Novak Djokovic is back. After an out of form start of the season and a series of worrying opening-round defeats in smaller clay tournaments, he has delighted tennis fans at the Philippe Chatrier with a truly exciting match against Alexander Zverev, who took the lead in the first set, but is now against at the shadow of the greatest tennis player of all time (at least, according to numbers: this is a record-extending 51st Grand Slam semi-final).

The match ended 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Djokovic may be lacking in strength, but he deployed some astute tactics: in his words, “especially during the last game, my tactic was just to play drop shots, so I played three or four in a row. Maybe you can’t see it on TV, but there is a lot of wind from one side, so it gives the sensation that you must hit twice as hard. It was important to vary the game.”

Djokovic improves his head to head with Zverev to 9-5, and sets up a spectacular match on Friday with Jannik Sinner, who he has a 4-4 head to head. The other semi-final, between Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti, also takes place on Friday.