French Open 2012: Novak Djokovic Will Avenge Last Year's Semifinal Loss

Novak Djokovic certainly has had his fair share of close matches during this French Open. The No. 1 ranked singles player in the world cruised through the first three rounds at Roland Garros, but has been tested to the point of near elimination ever since.

Djokovic now faces another major test, facing the same man who knocked him out of this same tournament last year in the semifinals, Roger Federer. This year is a completely different story though, and there’s no way Djokovic will let Federer get the best of him twice in a row.

At last year’s French Open, the No. 2 ranked Djokovic was rarely tested through the first four rounds of the tournament, playing in only one more set than the minimum. He walked over Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals to set up a matchup with No. 3 Roger Federer.

Federer had been the most recent player to defeat Djokovic and that came six months earlier at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Federer would take the first two sets from Djokovic, putting him on the brink of going home.

Djokovic would fight back though, winning the third set, but fell in the fourth set and was eliminated. The loss ended a 43-match win streak, but Djokovic knew that it would have to come to an end eventually, according to The Guardian’s Kevin Mitchell:

"

During the tournament you feel the energy. You need the daily routine. These were the best months of my life, an incredible period. It had to end some time. Unfortunately it came in a bad moment. What happened happened. I can't affect it any more. A couple of points decided it. This is sport. There is nothing to be sorry about.

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The two have met a couple of times since that day in Paris, the most recent coming just a few weeks ago in Italy at the ATP Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Djokovic and Federer would meet in the semifinals and Novak would take down Roger in two sets, but fall to Rafael Nadal in the final.

Federer and Djokovic will again find themselves standing on opposite sides of the net in the 2012 French Open semifinals on Thursday.

The key difference between last year and this year could be that quarterfinal matchup against Fognini who couldn’t compete due to injury and gave Djokovic a few extra days of rest.

The additional time off the court could’ve been detrimental to his concentration and cost him the match. Sometimes it’s better to just keep playing your game so that you aren’t constantly analyzing it during your time off.

Another factor that will differentiate the 2011 French Open from the 2012 one will be the road taken by Djokovic to reach the semifinals.

As I mentioned earlier, Novak didn’t really have any competition last year until the semifinals against Federer. He was never down in a match until losing the first set to Federer.

This year has been vastly different. Yes, he did advance rather easily through the opening three rounds of the tournament, but the next two matches have been anything but simple.

Djokovic lost the opening two sets to No. 22 Andreas Seppi in the fourth round, but then won three straight sets to advance to the French Open quarterfinals.

Going up against No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters, Djokovic would win the first set, but then lose two straight to put him in a big hole. He had to fight off four match points from Tsonga and somehow managed to battle back and take the next two sets to win.

Djokovic told ESPN’s Howard Bryant:

"

There really isn't any rational explanation or a word that can describe what you're supposed to do when you're match points down or when you're losing or very close to losing. It's trying to be mentally tough and believing in your shots. So, I don't want to be wise now and say, 'OK, I know how to play when I'm match points down,' because I said, there's no explanation.

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Federer also hasn’t had the easiest of times getting to the semifinals and had to win three straight sets over No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro after going down 2-0 early.

The edge in Thursday’s matchup goes to Djokovic because he holds that vengeance inside of him from last year’s defeat. He knows that this time he has to play his best game to advance to the finals.

Federer isn’t just going to hand it to him because he’s the world No. 1.

I’m sure that it will be an incredibly close match throughout each set, but don’t be shocked when Djokovic upends Federer to advance to his first career French Open final.