Roger Federer ends Novak Djokovic’s win streak, advances to French Open final

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Roger Federer advanced to the French Open finals Friday and ended Novak Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak in the process.

Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam champion, knocked off the hottest player in tennis, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), in their semifinal match. He had lost to Djokovic in two straight major semifinals.

Now Federer will face Rafael Nadal in the final for the fourth time in the last six years. Nadal, a winner over Andy Murray earlier on Friday, has beaten Federer in six of eight Grand Slam finals.

Nadal is also 2-0 against Federer this year, in the semifinals in Key Biscayne, Fla., and in Madrid.

Djokovic hadn’t lost all season but he also had not played since Sunday. His quarterfinal opponent, Fabio Fognini, withdrew on Monday. Federer finished with 46 unforced errors, five more than Djokovic, but seemed to have an answer to just about everything his opponent had to offer.

Djokovic led the first-set tiebreaker, 5-4, but gave Federer the set with three unforced errors — a backhand and two forehands. Federer won the second set despite wasting nine more break chances.

Djokovic got the early break in the third and went on to take the first set off Federer at this year’s tournament. He also led in the fourth, and served for the set at 5-4. But Federer got his fourth break and soon sent it into a tiebreaker, where he took a 6-3 lead by winning three straight points and went on to win with his 18th ace of the match.

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-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.