Italian tennis player Marco Cecchinato stunned the world when he defeated former world number 1, Novak Djokovic. The Italian downed the Serbian ace in 4 sets, taking the first 2, losing the 3rd and winning the 4th during the French Open quarterfinals.
In all honesty, not many were expecting a shock defeat at this stage. Many would have been hoping for a Nadal-Djokovic matchup for old time’s sake. But sadly for them, it wasn’t meant to be this year. Cecchinato will now face Dominic Thiem, who defeated Alexander Zverev earlier.
Here is how social media reacted to the match.
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Watched the match between Djokovic and Cecchinato and I have to say that I was shocked how bad of a shape Djokovic was in. So many unforced errors in the fourth set and he looked as if he was struggling to remain in the match. Another shock was how good Cecchinato was playing.
— Rutger (@TaleFire) June 5, 2018
Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini have been wonderful for tennis in 🇮🇹 over the past 10-13 years, but neither has managed to do what Marco Cecchinato has just done and reach a Grand Slam SF.
Fabio has been to one QF and Seppi has lost in the 4r six times#RG18
— Val Febbo (@VFebbo96) June 5, 2018
Indeed! What a match 🔥
Congratulations #Cecchinato ☺
Really well fought @DjokerNole always a Champion ❤ https://t.co/LgPZjzwhuD— Subham Dey (@SportsLaunda) June 5, 2018
Djokovic throwing his toys out the pram saying he may not play the grass court season after losing to cecchinato today at the French open. Come on bro take the L with some class smh.
— Jason Blackshaw (@Jason94_MUFC) June 5, 2018
#FrenchOpen HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO #Cecchinato on his amazing victory over #Djokovic today 🙂 Good Luck in your semifinal match 🙂
— Johnny (@JohnnyFizz89) June 5, 2018
I mean, what was THAT 4th SET!! Rooting for you, #Cecchinato can't wait to cheer for you in the next match. Love it when such things happen. #RolandGarros
— Sanika R (@lightningblue82) June 5, 2018
Heart of a Lion 🦁
Marco Cecchinato – The name… https://t.co/anzNxldtTi
— Ramakant Taparia (@ImRtaparia) June 5, 2018
HUGE UPSET! Unseeded Italian Marco #Cecchinato with a shock defeat over Novak #Djokovic to be the first Italian to reach the semi-finals of the @RollandGaros since 1978 👏👏 #RolandGarros #RG18
— Bench Eye View (@BenchEye) June 5, 2018
Best match of the tournament #RG : level, points, emotion. All were amazing. Bravo #Cecchinato ! https://t.co/X0DdAcw3QP
— Pauline Cavé (@Pau_KV) June 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/ebuka_akara/status/1004060121352192000
Incredible! Cinderella man #Cecchinato defeats #Djokovic in an epic 4th set tie break. The story continues. Match of the tournament so far! #RolandGarros
— Pat Cash (@TheRealPatCash) June 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/NinonPatrao/status/1004048859964825601
Quite frankly, nothing #Djokovic said in that press conference should be taken seriously.. It was so clear how pissed he was and how he wanted to zoom out of there… Thus, the curt answers..#RG18
— Mert Ertunga (@MertovsTDesk) June 5, 2018
#Djokovic looks and sounds beyond disappointed… Giving short answers to most questions.. "No," "I don't know," "I don't want to talk about it," etc..#RG18
— Mert Ertunga (@MertovsTDesk) June 5, 2018
I expected #Djokovic to be in the final based on his first four matches. While he fell short, I do see him as “back” (or as Rafa said “always there”). Novak trajectory suggests he’ll be very dangerous at both #Wimbledon and the #USOpen, the latter of which I predicted him to win.
— Andrew Prochnow (@AndrewProchnow) June 5, 2018
Wherefore art thou BHDTL? This is one thing that lost you the match Nole.
Go work on it!! Also, focus! Two horrible decisions in a row: forehand error and a dumb approach. Credit to Marco, though. He played amazing. #Djokovic #RG18— JANE 🐊🇨🇦 (@JANE79591745) June 5, 2018
What a tennis match this has been. Regardless of whatever the result is, Djokovic fans would be happy to see him back in such amazing form. #FrenchOpen #Djokovic
— Karthik Venkataramana (@Karthikv1998) June 5, 2018
What a great day at the #RolandGarros that has seen #Cecchinato defeating former world number one #Djokovic 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 7-6 (13-11) to advance to the semi-finals of the #Frenchopen what a 4th set that was pic.twitter.com/3ecZPK8lus
— Emmanuel Ezekiel (@ezekielive1) June 5, 2018
Sheer brilliance.
Novak #Djokovic had three set points back there. He did not collapse. Marco #Cecchinato – and his drop-shots, his big serves and his flashy winners down the line – rose up.
6-3 7-6(4). The most incredible thing I've seen all tournament. Nerveless. #RG18
— Abigail Johnson (@abigailtennis) June 5, 2018
Best game of tennis I have seen for a long long time this! #RolandGarros #RG18 #Cecchinato #Djokovic
— Kevin Watson (@kwatson106) June 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/benpedro7/status/1004061043377651712
What a match! #Cecchinato vs #Djokovic
— Julian Fonseca (@JulianFon07) June 5, 2018
God. What a tie-break. Clay-court tennis distilled to its finest. Extraordinary rallies, winners, errors. #Djokovic #Cecchinato #RG18
— Jamie Scott (@JCScott4) June 5, 2018
Disappointed #Djokovic is out but that match had everything great about tennis. #Cecchinato #FrenchOpen
— Paul Kelly (@MGPaulKelly) June 5, 2018
My heart cannot take this match any longer. Djokovic or Cecchinato please put me out of my misery. #Djokovic #FrenchOpen
— Bianca (@biancapriv1) June 5, 2018
Match of the tournament? #RG18 #Djokovic
— Aakash (@Aakash_utd) June 5, 2018
Kudos to Nole, always a fighter! Incredible 💙 #Djokovic #Cecchinato
— Owl (@Gurdyroot27) June 5, 2018
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What a performance that was by #cecchinato against #novak #djokovic ma Marco #rg #tennis #FrenchOpen #rolandgarros
— Khalil (@KhalilA111) June 5, 2018
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Phew, what a game! Extraordinary stuff from both Marco #Cecchinato and #Djokovic. One of the best games you will ever witness. #FrenchOpen
— Yash Kashikar (@yash_kashikar) June 5, 2018
