French Open 2023: Masterful Novak Djokovic battles back against Karen Khachanov to reach semi-finals

Novak Djokovic battled back from a set down to beat Karen Khachanov 4-6 7-6(0) 6-2 6-4 and reach the semi-finals of the French Open in a masterful performance following an early wobble.

A lone break in the opening set was enough for Khachanov to take the first set in a surprise on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with Djokovic struggling to get going.

But the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion dug deep and responded by winning the second set tie-break in emphatic fashion, dishing out a 7-0 ‘bagel’ in the decisive game as Khachanov wilted, while the Serbian stepped it up.

Djokovic followed that up with a couple of hugely impressive breaks in the third set, taking it 6-2 to move a set away from victory as he smoothly moved up through the gears.

The Serbian star continued to put the pressure on his opponent in the fourth set, even if he didn’t have it all his own way.

Indeed having broken Khachanov to stand 4-3 ahead, the world No. 3 lost his own serve as the match threatened to go into a fifth.

But Djokovic then carved out a break back straightaway as he moved to 5-4, and served it out to love to take his place in the last four.

Speaking afterwards about the tough test Khachanov had provided, Djokovic said: “It [the difficulties he faced in the first two sets] was due to his quality of tennis; he was better for most of the first two sets.

“I was struggling to find my rhythm, making a lot of unforced errors. I came into the match quite slow and sluggish, but played a perfect tiebreak, and I played a couple of levels higher than the beginning and had a bit of a scare towards the end of the fourth, but managed to close it out.

“It’s a big fight; something you expect in the quarters of a Slam, you won’t be handed your victories, and I’m glad to overcome a big challenge.

“I missed a couple of easy shots. These things happen, sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.

“Against players like Karen that’re aggressive with a big serve, sometimes they don’t move as well. I tried to expose him, playing unpredictable, a lot of drop shots, changing the length, and so forth. I’m running down all my tactics now!

“It was a big fight; it always is. I have a lot of respect for Karen.”

Although he went down, Khachanov more than played his part in some truly magical rallies between the pair that thrilled the crowd.

Djokovic will now wait to see who wins the night match on Tuesday, with a potential blockbuster semi-final clash with Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz on the cards as long as the top seed can beat Stefanos Tsitsipas.

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