After a week in which weather was determined to interrupt play, the draws finally worked their way to the semifinals after Thursday’s results. Despite another damp and cold day in Paris, the final four quarterfinal matches were completed.

Djokovic Impressive in Victory

If there were any doubt as to who holds the title of best player in the world, that should have been filed away after top-seeded Novak Djokovic defeated Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

Throughout the quarterfinal match, Djokovic frustrated the Czech with his consistency and shot-making as he systematically turned what appeared to be solid shots by Berdych into his advantage. His caliber of play left few answers for his opponent, who was forced to strike even more precise shots to earn points.

When serving, the pressure was firmly on Berdych to place his first serve into play because the Serb took full advantage of his second offerings. Keeping the pressure on the seventh seed, Djokovic reaped the benefits of unforced errors. He left his opponent searching for answers, but none came.

However, a self-inflicted incident nearly cost the world No. 1 the match in the third set. Frustrated at failing to convert on a break point, Djokovic slung his racket behind him, where it just missed a linesman. Despite an apology, the act cost him a code violation, but had it struck the official, it would have likely led to a disqualification.

Djokovic continued to apologize after the match. “It's obvious what I tried to do. I threw a racket on the ground, and it slipped and almost hit the line umpire. I was lucky there. That's all,” he said. “I am aware that I have been lucky, and I apologized to people that have been in this particular situation with me and that could have been hurt by my racket. But it was never the intention. It was just an unfortunate bounce, but a fortunate ending of that scenario. That's all I can say.”

Between the lines, the result of his finely tuned game led Djokovic to his 24th career victory over Berdych in 26 head-to-head matches. It also landed him back into the semifinals at Roland Garros. Despite the continued dismal conditions, he feels his game is in a good place. “It’s a Grand Slam quarterfinal, so it’s always a difficult match. It’s hard to dictate the play in these conditions. It makes it tough tactically,” Djokovic said. “I played my best tennis at the right moment, and I’m happy about that. I’m happy to come back here on center court every day.”

Williams Overcomes, Advances

The first women’s quarterfinal match of the day was certainly not Serena Williams’ best effort, but it was good enough to defeat Yulia Putintseva to survive and advance 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

It was a match in which the world No. 1 misfired with 43 unforced errors, dug herself a one-set deficit, and was down an early break (and later overcame two break points at 4-4) in the second set, before she finally turned play around against the feisty Putintseva. Williams acknowledged that she was concerned that her quest for the title would end on this day. “She played unbelievable,” she said. “And I honestly didn’t think I was going to win in the second set.”

Despite her small frame, the native of Kazakhstan went toe-to-toe with the world No. 1 for much of the match as her personality brought cheers from the crowd.

However, after fighting back to hold serve late in the second set, Serena followed with a break of serve of her own to take the set, and the air began to come out of Putintseva’s game. Serena would gain firm control in the third set. With the win, Williams is just two matches short of equaling Steffi Graf’s 22 career major titles.

Thiem and Bertens Advance to Semifinals

Dominic Thiem and KiKi Bertens both advanced to their first career major semifinals with wins on Thursday.

In the men’s draw, Thiem defeated David Goffin 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 in an entertaining match that featured tremendous points and shot-making by the two friends.

Early, it was Goffin dictating play as his court coverage and deep groundstrokes paid dividends against the Austrian. But later, Thiem would counter with massive forehands that were measured at over 100 mph at times, and the two sparred back and forth. But the power of Thiem’s baseline game finally wore down the Belgian, who began to lose depth in his groundstrokes.

It was one of the better matches of the tournament until the big strikes of Thiem set the table to take nine of the last 10 games. The win sets up an encounter with Djokovic in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, Bertens continued her high level of play with a 7-5, 6-2 win against Timea Bacsinszky. In the first set, both competitors struggled to hold serve, but Bertens gained a late break and finally held to take it. She parlayed the momentum into the second set, darting out to a 4-0 lead before the 2015 semifinalist attempted to fight back. But it was too little, too late for Bacsinszky as Bertens closed out the match. She will be the first Dutchwoman to play in a Grand Slam semifinal since Betty Stove at the 1977 US Open.