World No. 3 Novak Djokovic advances into his 12th semifinal at Roland Garros, notching a 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 triumph over 11th seed Karen Khachanov after three hours and 38 minutes.
In his on-court interview, he stressed: “I think he was the better player for most of the [first] two sets. I was struggling to find my rhythm. I made a lot of unforced errors and came into the match quite slow, quite sluggish. But I played the perfect [second-set] tiebreak, and from that moment, I played a couple of levels higher than I did at the beginning.”
Further assessing the match, he said: “[There was] a little bit of a scare towards the end of the fourth set, but I managed to win eight points in a row to finish it off.”
“It’s a big fight. It’s something that you expect in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. You’re not going to have your victories handed over to you. You’ve got to earn them, so I’m just glad to overcome the big challenge of today,” he remarked.
The winner of the clash between top seed Carlos Alcaraz against 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas will meet the 93-time ATP titlist for a place in the grand finale.
Djokovic came into the last eight without dropping a set, a pattern broken by the Moscow native on Tuesday, making his third consecutive grand slam quarterfinal appearance, his first at Roland Garros since 2019.
Their tenth meeting at tour level would see the 27-year-old hitting first in the opener, delivering a solid performance behind his serve on Court Philippe-Chatrier, making his opponent work hard from the get-go.
The fifth game, a glimpse of the battle ahead, set the tone for a tense matchup.
The Serbian saved four breakpoints while showing signs of discomfort from the physical side, lacking energy in a slow start to the contest.
Meanwhile, in his fifth attempt, Khachanov converted his first breakpoint and held to take a 4-2 lead.
Under pressure, a 10-minute ninth game saw Djokovic tested once and again, battling to fend off two breakpoints, holding at 4-5.
Then, the Australian Open semifinalist - lost to Tsitsipas, served out for the set, claiming a 6-4 win in 59 minutes.
Playing aggressively throughout the first set, Khachanov won 88 percent of the first-serve points as 42 percent on the receiving.
Without facing a breakpoint, he hit 11 winners to 8 unforced errors compared to his adversary’s 12 and 17, respectively.
A tight second set left no room for breaks of serve. The 22-time major champion did manage to improve his performance on serve, holding onto his advantage while striving to contain his rival’s powerful groundstrokes.
Wise on return, diversifying his shot-making, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist forced a tiebreaker, which the Belgrade born-player dominated in style, scoring seven consecutive points, wrapping up the set in 7-6(0) in 69 minutes to even the match one set apiece.
The former World No. 1 won 76 percent of the first serve points and 80 percent on his second.
Adding pressure over Jose Clavet’s pupil, the 36-year-old surged from a set down to produce a double break, taking control of the third set to clinch a 6-2 win in 42 minutes.
Djokovic made it through the fourth set, the most comprehensive across their top encounter. But regardless of his quarterfinal triumph, he is yet to bring his A-game to the court.
Hitting the ball cleanly off both wings, he finished with 57 winners, converting 4 of 8 breakpoint opportunities, winning 68 percent of his net approaches and 77 percent of his first-serve deliveries.