Summary Marco Cecchinato beat Djokovic 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 7-6 (13/11) to reach French Open semi-finals.
PARIS (AFP) - World number 72 Marco Cecchinato stunned Novak Djokovic in a French Open classic on Tuesday to set up a semi-final clash against Dominic Thiem, with Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys to meet in the women s last four.
Cecchinato is the first Italian man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since 1978 after his thrilling 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 7-6 (13/11) victory over the 12-time major champion.
The 25-year-old, who had never won a Grand Slam match in his career before Roland Garros, goes on to face Austrian seventh seed Thiem for a place in Sunday s final.
In an epic fourth-set tie-break, Djokovic saved three match points but wasted three set points as Cecchinato became the lowest-ranked man to make the last four in Paris since 100th-ranked Andrei Medvedev in 1999.
In a roller-coaster of a quarter-final, both men were warned for coaching, 2016 champion Djokovic required two medical timeouts while the Italian was docked a point for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Djokovic had also squandered three set points in the second set and failed to serve out the fourth in the ninth game after being 5-2 in front.
In an extraordinary post-match press conference, Djokovic then said he may even skip Wimbledon where he has been champion three times.
"I don t know if I am going to play on grass," said the Serb.
"I m just not thinking about tennis at the moment."
Cecchinato struggled to comprehend his triumph, coming just two years after his career was almost derailed when he became embroiled in match-fixing allegations.
"Maybe I m sleeping. It s amazing, it s unbelievable for me. I m very happy because it s unbelievable to beat Novak Djokovic in a quarter-final at Roland Garros. It s amazing," he said.
Thiem reached his third successive French Open semi-final with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 demolition of a hobbled and exhausted Alexander Zverev who admitted he was close to quitting the tie.
German second seed Zverev simply ran out of gas, paying a heavy price for needing three successive five-set matches to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
"I definitely thought about it, but I didn t want to pull out for the first time of my career in a Grand Slam quarter-final," said Zverev.
Thiem, who lost in the semis to Djokovic in 2016 and Nadal last year, said he is now better-equipped to go all the way.
"I m a better player in general, for sure. There was another year of work where I improved and developed my game," said the 24-year-old.
"I know how to handle a Grand Slam now, how... to get that deep in such a tournament, and I think everything gets better with experience."
US Open champion Stephens brushed aside Russian Daria Kasatkina to set up a repeat of last year s Flushing Meadows final with fellow American and good friend Keys.
The 10th seed produced a clinical performance to down Kasatkina 6-3, 6-1 on Court Philippe Chatrier, firing 17 winners.
Earlier in the day Keys, the 13th seed, reached the semi-finals for the first time by seeing off Kazakhstan s Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
"I m excited to play my good friend in the semi-finals, we ve already played in the US Open final and it s really good for American tennis," said Stephens.
The 25-year-old, who was ranked 957 just six weeks before her maiden Grand Slam triumph last year after a series of injury problems, is now into the last four of a major for the third time.
Keys struck 30 winners past a battling Putintseva in an impressive display as she continued her recent revival on clay, having never reached the quarter-finals in Paris before this week.
The 23-year-old struggled last September under the pressure with the US Open title on the line, losing 6-3, 6-0, but she is confident that performance won t affect the match at Roland Garros.
"Honestly, the (US) Open feels like it was 12 years ago at this point," said Keys, who is yet to drop a set in the tournament.
"I obviously rely on what I learned there and how to manage my emotions and manage the moment, but there were so many late nights and I was so tired. It feels completely different here."
