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Novak Djokovic has had his frustrations at Roland Garros before, notably when losing the 2015 final to Stan Wawrinka, but never has he stalked away from a defeat in the sort of towering rage that descended upon him on Tuesday.

Having just gone out to the unheralded Marco Cecchinato – an Italian ranked No. 72 in the world – Djokovic marched straight into the media centre, sat down in one of the smaller interview rooms, and would not be shifted, even though there was no microphone for him to speak into and no stenographer present to take down his words.

When the questioning started, he was full of praise for Cecchinato, who had never won a single grand-slam match until last week. But he was also unable to take any satisfaction from his own performance in what was unquestionably the match of this tournament to date.

Asked if the quality of his own play confirmed the theory that the real Djokovic is back, he snapped “I am back in the locker room. That’s where I’m back.” Seconds later, he blurted “I don’t know if I’m going to play on grass,” before bolting for the door after a four-and-a-half-minute press conference. It was an emotional meltdown, but one that revealed just how badly Djokovic had wanted to reach his first grand-slam semi-final in almost two years.