It's a huge day at the French Open with both men's and women's semi-finals taking place, with Britain's Johanna Konta in action. Our Scott Ferguson previews the action.
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Johanna Konta v Marketa Vondrousova
British tennis is back in the limelight with the glorious run for Johanna Konta in Paris.
She was in devastating form on Tuesday, ousting my title tip Sloane Stephens, never giving the American a chance.
Focused on keeping the points short and not allowing Stephens time to disrupt her rhythm, Konta took a commanding lead by breaking serve three times in a row across the two sets.
Faced with a sterner test in the second set, Konta offered no chances, dropping only one point on serve. She's on a 10-1 run, losing only the Rome final in her last two events.
This is the form that saw her ranking peak at #4 two years ago and her confidence will be sky high.
Marketa Vondrousova did us a great favour winning the quarter at 9/1, sealing the deal against Petra Martic and reversing a 0-4 h2h record.
That match largely came down to errors and poor shot selection under pressure by Martic, such was the pressure from the Czech left-hander.
Broken four times on serve, she won't be allowed that luxury if Konta holds the same form.
The slate stands at a win apiece, with the most recent clash being a three-set win to Konta in the Rome quarter-final.
On that occasion, the Brit had learned from her loss at Indian Wells and struck out early and often, denying Vondrousova opportunities to construct points.
Without doubt, the teenager will have worked with her coach to counter that tactic but when Konta is in ruthless form, she is incredibly hard to stop.
2pts Johanna Konta to win at 8/11
Novak Djokovic v Dominic Thiem
For the third time in four years, Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem meet at the French Open. Previous clashes have been split with a straight sets win apiece. Djokovic prevailed in 2016, stopping Thiem in his first major semi-final, while a year later, the Austrian reigned supreme in a quarter-final encounter. Most recently in Madrid a month ago, the 15-time major champion scraped through in two tiebreaks, the difference coming down to playing the clutch points.
Djokovic has been clinical in five matches so far, spending as little time on court as possible, with zero sets conceded. An early wobble against Alexander Zverev was soon dispatched, winning 15 of the last 19 games of the match when the pressure was applied.
Thiem has timed his run, playing his best tennis in his past two rounds, seeing off Gael Monfils and Karin Khachanov in style, with just a single break point conceded in those six sets and winners more than doubling his error count.
A month ago in Madrid, there was merely a hair between them in the betting and the result followed suit. Djokovic converted three of three break points on the faster court at altitude, while Thiem generated ten break points, sealing just three.
Today the gap is more pronounced, paying greater respect to Djokovic's Grand Slam record than clay and the personal h2h record. While Djokovic is seeking to once again hold all four major titles at the same time, this is Thiem's fourth Roland Garros semi-final, in as many years. He ranks marginally higher in this season's clay ratings.
After two quarter-finals turning into processions on Thursday, this one promises to be much tighter, with composure on clutch points likely to determine the match. It's time for Thiem to rain on Djokovic's parade. At the very least 7/4 looks like a tradeable price in-running, but I believe he's mature enough to reach his second French Open final in a row.
1pt Dominic Thiem to beat Djokovic at 7/4
Friday's Singles Schedule
Philippe-Chatrier (1150am)
- Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal
- Novak Djokovic v Dominic Thiem
Suzanne-Lenglen (1000am)
- Ashleigh Barty v Amanda Anisimova
Court Simonne Mathieu (1000am)
- Jo Konta v Marketa Vondrousova
