Novak Djokovic has reached the semifinals at the French Open for the twelfth time, taking the next step towards the sole Grand Slam title record he is aiming for. The Serbian tennis player defeated the Russian Karen Khachanov on Tuesday 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 0), 6: 2, 6: 4 and lost the first set of the tournament.
“He was the better player for two sets and then I played a perfect tie-breaker,” said Djokovic. “I’m glad to have mastered this great challenge.” For the first time, he was really challenged for the entire game over 3:38 hours.
However, the 36-year-old was able to rely on his nerves of steel again and also won the fifth tie-break at this edition of the classic clay court in Paris. Djokovic increased his record to nine wins in ten duels with Khachanov. The eleventh in the world rankings had recently reached the semifinals at the US Open and the Australian Open.
Djokovic can continue to hope for his 23rd title in a Grand Slam tournament, which would leave Spaniard Rafael Nadal behind. More often in the top four at the French Open than Djokovic was only Nadal, who reached the semifinals 15 times and is not playing in Paris this year due to injury.
Djokovic is now dealing with Carlos Alcaraz from Spain. Alcaraz gave Stefanos Tsitsipas no chance in the so-called “night session” on Tuesday evening. In the end it was 6: 2, 6: 1, 7: 6 (7: 5) between the strong Alcaraz and the Greek world number five, who disappointed across the board. After 2:12 hours, the Spaniard converted his sixth match point. Tsitsipas, who had previously presented himself in strong form, was only able to keep up at the end and lost a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time.
US Open winner Alcaraz, who failed in the quarterfinals last year to Alexander Zverev, is playing for his second major title in top form this time. He is now the youngest semi-finalist in Paris since Djokovic reached the semi-finals in 2007 at the age of 20.
