Novak Djokovic was lucky to escape being defaulted and Austrian tyro Dominic Thiem provided plenty of entertainment as they finally caught up with the bottom half of the men’s draw by setting up a cross-generational semifinal.
With Andy Murray and defending champion Stan Wawrinka enjoying a welcome rest day after booking their last-four showdown a day earlier, world No 1 Djokovic was back on court for a third day running and again had to dodge the showers as he sealed a 6-3 7-5 6-3 win over a fuming Tomas Berdych.
It was a shame that only a handful of shivering spectators turned up on Court Suzanne Lenglen to watch Thiem’s racket skills.
The 22-year-old reached the last four of a major for the first time with a 4-6 7-6(7) 6-4 6-1 win over Belgium’s David Goffin. Serena Williams was caught up in a cold front for more than an hour as she dropped her first set of the tournament and came within two games of defeat before ramming home her title credentials with a 5-7 6-4 6-1 victory over little-known Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.
“I didn’t think I was gonna win that in the second set,” the 21-times grand slam champion said after booking a semifinal with Dutch outsider Kiki Bertens, who beat Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky 7-5 6-2. A week of wet weather and chilly temperatures – with the mercury topping out at 14 degrees Celsius on Thursday – has robbed the tournament of its usual joie de vivre.
