Novak Djokovic closes gap in battle for No.1

HEAD Racquet rebel Novak Djokovic went down fighting in the French Open semi-finals half a year of impeccable tennis. The Serb, who changed to his new YouTek IG Speed MP at the start of the season, won 41 straight matches from January, the second best start to a season since John McEnroe’s 42-match winning streak in 1984.

Djokovic came up short against Roger Federer 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) in an epic Roland Garros showdown but will not allow his first loss since last November in London set back his huge progress. The race for the ATP world No. 1 ranking remains tight with the grass season now more important than ever in the duel between the Serb and the Spaniard.

Djokovic refused to be depressed by the end of his win streak. "It was a great tournament, the best five months of my life, my tennis career," he said. "I cannot complain. It was definitely an incredible period, it had to end somewhere. But, look, it's sport. I will keep on working hard."

Fellow HEAD racquet rebel Andy Murray produced his best career French Open showing by reaching the semi-final. The fourth-seeded Scot battled with his YouTek Radical Pro for more than three hours in the semi-final before losing to eventual winner Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

"Coming to the clay court season, there was no chance anyone was thinking I'd be in this position," said Murray. "I'm happy that I managed to put myself in that position. I feel like I've closed the gap. I think I'm better on clay, a lot better than I was last year.”

In the women's draw, Maria Sharapova showed tremendous performances with her brand-new YouTek IG Instinct MP before loosing against the later champion Li Na. But the Russian was comforted by her outstanding clay campaign, which included the Rome title prior to the French Open.

"It's been a good season on clay”, Sharapova commented. “I had a great tournament in Rome, and I got to the semi-finals here after not being in this stage of a Grand Slam for a long time. I'm quite proud of what I've achieved here, but I still feel like I have a lot of work to do."

Casey Dellacqua won her maiden Grand Slam title winning the mixed doubles with her partner Scott Lipsky. They conquered the title with a 6-7, 6-4, 10-7 against Katarina Srebotnik/Nenad Zimonjic.

Austrian HEAD player Dominic Thiem played the final in the boy's singles competition where he was finally defeated 6-3, 3-6, 8-6. The 17-year showed fantastic performances and only lost one set on his way to the final!