Novak Djokovic reaches French Open semi-final in hunt for 23rd major title

Novak Djokovic is through to the French Open semi-finals with a 4-6 7-6 6-2 6-4 victory over Karen Khachanov.

Djokovic’s victory over the Russian means he could be set for a showdown with fellow Roland-Garros favourite Carlos Alcaraz in the last four, if the world No.1 beats Stefanos Tsitsipas later on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old Serbian is looking to lift his 23rd Grand Slam trophy which would see him move ahead of Rafael Nadal for the most major men’s singles titles in history.

Djokovic bounced back after losing the first set – in what was the first he has dropped across his five matches on the Paris clay – and needed a tie-break to win the second set, while the third and fourth were more straightforward as he broke his opponent four times in total in the match.

‘I played the perfect tie-break and from that moment onwards I played a couple of levels higher than I did at the beginning,’ Djokovic said after the win.

‘A little bit scared at the end of the fourth set so I managed to win. It’s a big fight, it’s what you expect in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam.

‘You are not going to have your victories handed to you and I’m glad to have overcome it today.

‘I think I missed a couple of really easy shots today. I think it was 15 easy put-away backhands. Sometimes it works really well. Against players like Karen that have a big serve and maybe don’t move as well, I try and make it unpredictable for him.

‘Playing long shots, drop shots. It was a big fight, it always is. I have great respect for Karen and I wish him the best for the rest of the year.’

Djokovic started his quest for a third Roland-Garros title with victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic before beating Marton Fucsovics in the second round. He then eliminated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Juan Pablo Varillas before knocking out Khachanov.

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