(Paris) Novak Djokovic bounced back after conceding a first set at the French Open on Tuesday en route to a 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Karen Khachanov who took him advanced to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the 45th time in his career.
Roger Federer is the record holder on the men’s side with 46 appearances for the semi-finals in major tournaments.
His victory against Khachanov, who reached the semi-finals at the United States Open last September and the Australian Open in January, allowed the Serb to find himself in the semi-finals at Roland-Garros for the 12th times of his career. Only Rafael Nadal has taken part more often; 15 times, precisely. The Spaniard had hip surgery last week and was absent from the Paris tournament.
Djokovic, the third seed, could face in the next round the favorite, Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard, who defeated Djokovic on clay at the Madrid Masters last year — their only career encounter so far — is set to face fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas later Today.
Djokovic has won twice in his career at the French Open (2016, 2021), and he is eyeing a 23rd career Grand Slam title, which would allow him to surpass Nadal for the most tennis players.
Prior to facing Khachanov, Djokovic had won each of his 12 rounds so far in the tournament. But he admitted to having a “quite difficult, slow start to the game” on Tuesday.
The second round was hardly easier. At least, until the tiebreaker. That’s when the Serb “raised his level of play a few notches”, in his own words.
It’s the least we can say.
Earlier on Tuesday, Karolina Muchova reached the semifinals of the women’s draw for the first time in her career.
The unseeded Czech got the better of 2021 tournament runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
She had never passed the third round at Roland-Garros.
Pavlyuchenkova took more than three hours to win her previous match, and the Russian looked tired early in the game, as she struggled to find her bearings and conceded plenty of points without actually fighting.
She tried to pull herself together by exploiting her powerful forehand, but her hopes of orchestrating a comeback were dashed when she found herself down 1-4 in the second set following another messy forehand. .
Pavlyuchenkova has missed most of the 2022 season due to a knee injury. By virtue of her 333rd place in the world, she nonetheless became the lowest-ranked player in the modern era to reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garros—and she became the lowest-ranked player to reach that stage- been competing in a Grand Slam tournament since 2017.
Muchova has also been plagued by injuries and abdominal discomfort that forced her to rest for six months after the 2021 U.S. Open. She also injured her ankle during her third-round match at the Open. from France last year.
Muchova will make the semi-finals of a major tournament for the second time in her career, having found herself in the semi-finals at the Australian Open in 2021. There she will face Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-4 in Tuesday’s other quarter-final match.
Sabalenka is from Belarus, and Svitolina — playing her first Grand Slam tournament since becoming a mother — is Ukrainian. Belarus helped invade Ukraine in February 2022, and the war is still ongoing. As is the case with all players from Ukraine, including Sabalenka’s first-round opponent in Paris last week, Svitolina does not shake hands with players from Belarus or Russia after games. It happened again on Tuesday.
Separately, Japan’s Miyu Kato was relieved of US$23,000 in prize money and her women’s doubles ranking points after accidentally hitting a ball attendant in the neck with a ball after a point during a match. However, she was granted permission to continue her activities in mixed doubles.
Kato’s women’s doubles partner, Indonesian Aldila Sutjiadi, was not punished.
