Novak Djokovic closed in on a potential blockbuster French Open semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz yesterday as Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka reached the last four at Roland Garros.
Djokovic, chasing a third French Open crown and record 23rd men’s Grand Slam singles title, recovered from dropping his first set of the tournament to defeat 11th seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (7/0), 6-2, 6-4.
The 36-year-old Serb is in his 12th Roland Garros semi-final - his 45th at the majors - and will take on world number one Alcaraz or 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in Sunday’s final. After falling behind for the first time this fortnight, Djokovic dominated the second-set tie-break and then broke Khachanov to begin the third set after a favourable bounce off the net to take control.
“It was probably the turning point of the match. Winning the second set or losing the second set would be quite a big difference,” said Djokovic.
“I managed to have a perfect couple of minutes of tennis and turned things around, and then just the energy of the court shifted to my side.”
Djokovic hit 19 winners and just one unforced error in the third set, conceding a solitary point on his serve before breaking the Russian again for good measure.
He briefly let slip a 4-2 lead in the fourth set but immediately broke back and secured a ninth win in 10 tries against Khachanov with an ace on match point.
In the night session, tournament favourite Alcaraz goes up against Greek fifth seed Tsitsipas in his stiffest challenge so far.
The Spaniard has won all four past meetings - two of which have been on clay, most recently triumphing in the Barcelona Open final in April.
“We have played great matches. I won every match that we have played. But it doesn’t mean that I’m going to win every match that we play,” said Alcaraz. Tsitsipas also reached this year’s Australian Open final, losing to Djokovic, and has been steady rather than spectacular in 2023. He is yet to win a title this season but has made serene progress through the draw in Paris, dropping just the one set in his opening round. “Right now he’s one of the biggest obstacles and challenges for any player to compete against,” Tsitsipas said of Alcaraz.
“Rivalries like this, they are the toughest thing you can get in our sport.”
Earlier in the day, Sabalenka ended Elina Svitolina’s surprise run in the highest-profile match between two players whose countries are on opposing sides of the conflict. Sabalenka won a politically-charged match 6-4, 6-4 to extend her Grand Slam winning streak to 12 matches following her first major title at the Australian Open in January.
Sabalenka has now reached the last four at each of the Grand Slams and will face 43rd-ranked Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for a place in Saturday’s final. The unseeded Muchova matched her best run at a major by knocking out 2021 finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-2 to reach the last four at Roland Garros for the first time. The 26-year-old Czech also made the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2021.
Muchova declared the sky was the limit after she stormed into the French Open semi-finals yesterday a year after leaving Roland Garros in a wheelchair with an ankle injury.
Muchova’s tearful exit in last year’s third round followed a lengthy spell out with an abdominal problem after the 2021 US Open and she had slipped to number 235 in the world last August. But the unseeded 26-year-old has steadily battled back and a 7-5 6-2 win over 2021 Paris runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in this year’s quarter-finals is expected to propel her back into the top 20 from number 43.
“I don’t really think about these things, like where I see myself. I’m really glad for this run and that I got my ranking a little bit better than it was,” Muchova told reporters.
“I mean, at the end of last year I was I think around 200, so this is very nice. It will for sure help me coming into other tournaments with the seeding and all.
“But, yeah, the sky is the limit. I’m not really thinking like I can be number one, I can be number five. I just take it step by step and I’m really glad where I am now. I’ll try to push my limits for sure. And who knows where the limits are.” The 2021 Australian Open semi-finalist, who has beaten the likes of Karolina Pliskova and Ash Barty at the Grand Slams, began her Paris campaign with a victory over eighth seed Maria Sakkari and said that win had set the tone for her success.
“To beat such a great player, top 10 player, it always helps,” Muchova said. “It was really tough because it was the first round and first rounds are always tricky. “To play Maria in the first, I think it was a tough draw for both of us. Glad that I was the one who left the court as the winner.”
Up next for Muchova is Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina to advance. “She’s a great player. Very aggressive. Tough match ahead,” Muchova said. “I’ll try to do my best to find a way to make it complicated for her.”