Paris, June 6 (UNI) Novak Djokovic beat Karen Khachanov 4-6 7-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the French Open here on Tuesday.
The Serb completed the match that lasted three hours 40 minutes with a stunning finish with his trademark ace, of course.
The quarterfinal tie was tough for Djokovic as he came out of two tricky sets in the beginning, but was too good for the Russian at the end.
A third set of seriously high quality set the tone, and moments of excellence laden with experience weighed too much in favour of Djokovic who sealed the semifinal spot, where he could meet Carlos Alcaraz in a highly-anticipated match.
With this win, Djokovic now has a record of entering the Grand Slam 45 times, just one short of Roger Federer who made it 46 times before.
On the flipside, Khachanov could not have been too upset with his performance as he played to his potential in the beginning.
The Russian grabbed the first set 6-4 over Djokovic with a service winner to take the lead in 56 minutes. It was an absolutely outstanding set of tennis from Khachanov. He wasn't really troubled on his service games and his powerful returns really put Djokovic under the pump. Those drop-shots didn't work either.
The second set was really unfortunate for Khachanov. He kept pace with Djokovic, but the pressure let him down in the tie-break. The Serb completed a perfect tie-breaker and took the set 7-6 by smashing down the line, and following it up with a sublime drop shot.
In the third set too, Djokovic upped the ante and found Khachanov wanting as he clobbered a return into the court to secure the set. Before he could do that, the Serb had lost a single point on his second serve, and only dropped one or two points on his first serve.
Moreover, he committed only one unforced error in comparison to the 17 and 14 made in the first and second sets, respectively.
After getting an early break in the fourth set, Djokovic held the third serve with relative ease, taking a crucial 3-1 lead as Khachanova was very unlucky, especially after an incredible rally.
However, Khachanov secured the hold and kept him within touching distance of Djokovic, with the scoreline reading 2-3.
Khachanov saved two break points and then followed up with a powerful return to take an important 3-4 hold as Djokovic once again went through the gears.
Khachanov broke incredibly well as Djokovic conceded the break with a double fault. And just as one thought Khachanov might have a sniff, Djokovic secured the break and was ready to serve for the match.
Djokovic ground through the gears to take control of the tie with a sublime drop shot, and soon the Serb was perched at three match points before the chair umpire called game, set and match. UNI BDN