5 iconic Novak Djokovic matches at the French Open

vs Andreas Seppi, 4R 2012

Top seeded at the 2012 French Open, Djokovic was the widely considered favourite. Up against Italy’s Andreas Seppi, the Serb lost control in the fifth game of the match, with Seppi taking full advantage of his rival’s lack of concentration. The Italian broke and held to take a 4-2 lead against Djokovic, who was low on energy and flagging in rainy conditions.

Seppi would go on to win the first set 6-4, then continued to play a consistent game as Djokovic struggled, managing to force a tiebreak in the second – but the Italian still remained on top of his game, with Djokovic now at a two-set deficit.

The Serb pulled off a comeback in the fourth set to take a quick lead as Seppi appeared to be losing momentum, but then the lower-ranked player saved four break points to fend off the baseliner’s quick attack.

The current World No. 1 managed to take advantage of Seppi’s lowered energy levels to quickly snap up the third set 6-3.

It was during that fourth set that Djokovic came properly back into his own, with stunning cross-court forehands that left Seppi bamboozled and would eventually spell the final nail in the coffin for the Italian’s momentum.

After a two-set deficit, Djokovic took two sets in quick succession and then broke Seppi early in the decider to prevent perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament.