Novak Djokovic hands out-of-sorts Rafa Nadal second French Open defeat in 11 years

Serb is now looking to win the only grand slam missing in his collection, while ‘King of Clay’ marks his 29th birthday with rare loss

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Novak Djokovic of Serbia hugs Rafael Nadal after beating the "King of Clay" in straight sets in their quarter-final match at Roland Garros. Photo: EPA

Published: 1:30am, 4 Jun 2015Updated: 8:28am, 4 Jun 2015

World number one Novak Djokovic handed nine-time champion Rafael Nadal of Spain his second defeat in 11 years at Roland Garros to reach the semi-finals of the French Open with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win on Wednesday.

The Serb, looking to win the only grand slam missing from his collection, will take on either British third seed Andy Murray or Spain’s David Ferrer, the seventh seed, for a place in Sunday’s final.

Nadal’s only previous defeat came in 2009 when the Mallorcan was knocked out in the fourth round by Swede Robin Soderling.

A disappointed Rafael Nadal attends a news conference after his defeat by Novak Djokovic. Photo: Reuters

The Spaniard recovered to level from a 4-0 deficit in the first set, but still lost the opener and once Djokovic had broken in the second, there was no way back for the clay-court king.

It was world number one and top seed Djokovic’s first win over defending champion Nadal in seven meetings in Paris, avenging his defeats in the 2012 and last year finals.

The victory also eased Djokovic, who fired 45 winners to Nadal’s 16, closer to a first French Open title and the completion of a career grand slam.