< /p> Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic celebrates advancing to the semi-finals of the French Open in Paris, June 6, 2023.
Paris – Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals of Roland Garros for the twelfth time in his career and is still hoping for a record 23rd Grand Slam title. The third player in the world defeated the Russian Karen Khačanov 4:6, 7:6, 6:2, 6:4 after three hours and 43 minutes. He will challenge world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the fight for the final. The 20-year-old Spaniard beat the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas smoothly 6:2, 6:1, 7:6 and advanced to the top four for the first time in his third start on the Paris clay.
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Photo gallery: French Open 2023 tennis tournament
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Thirty-six-year-old Djokovic is aiming for a third title in Paris after 2016 and 2021. He can take advantage of the absence of the injured defending champion Rafael Nadal and become independent ahead of him at the top of the historical ranking according to the number of Grand Slam victories. Now they both have 22 triumphs.
Djokovic advanced to the 45th Grand Slam semifinal in his career, leaving behind Martina Navratilova (44) in this statistic. Only the Swiss Roger Federer (46) and the American Chris Evertová (52) have more semi-final appearances in the “open era”.
The native of Belgrade played eleven aces in the duel with Chačanov and scored 57 winning points. The eleventh player in the world, Khačanov, had 19 less.
It took Djokovic a while in the match to mature on his opponent's serve. In the first set, Khačanova was unable to break even once, and the opponent took the lead after 58 minutes of play. Even in the second set, the Serb did not get a single break and only defeated the Russian in a shortened game, which he clearly dominated 7:0. Djokovic won the 119th tie-break at the Grand Slam, only the American John Isner (124) and Federer (152) could do it more times.
Only after that did Djokovic get comfortable playing. In the third set, he broke his opponent twice and turned the tide. Although he lost the lead in the fourth set, he won the remaining two games from 4:4 and converted the first match point on his own serve.
Alcaraz, on the other hand, showered Tsitsipas with winning balls from the start and clearly dominated the court. The 24-year-old Greek tennis player, who will play the final in Paris in 2021, held an excellent serve in the first set, but could not find an effective weapon against the precise and hard shots of his Spanish opponent.
The finalist of this year's Australian Open was able to dramatize the match only at the end of the third set. First, he averted two match points during his serve at 2:5, then he made the first two break points in the match and reduced it to 4:5. On his next serve, he averted the third match point, leveled the score and took the duel to a tie-break. In it, Alcaraz had already finished the match.
The reigning US Open champion was eliminated in the third round in his debut at Roland Garros in 2021. Last year, he lost in the quarterfinals to Alexander Zverev.
French Open tennis tournament in Paris
(clay, subsidy 49.6 million euros):
Men:
Singles – quarter finals:
Alcaraz (1-Sp.) – Tsitsipas (5-Greece) 6:2, 6:1, 7:6 (7:5), Djokovic (3-Serb.) – Khachanov (11-Russia) 4:6 , 7:6 (7:0), 6:2, 6:4.
Women:
Singles – quarterfinals:
Muchová (Czech Republic) – Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 7:5, 6:2, Sabalenkova (2-Belarus) – Svitolina (Ukraine) 6:4 , 6:4.
Quads – quarterfinals:
Melicharová-Martinezová, Perezová (6-USA/Austria) – Bouzková strong>, Sorribesová (Czech Republic/Sp.) 7:5, 6:3.
Juniors:
Singles – 2nd round:
Hrazdil (CZ) – Sakamoto (12-Japan) 7:6 (9:7), 6:4.
Doubles – 1st round:
Mrva, Bondioli (5-CZ/It.) – Nandal, Saar (India/Sweden.) 6: 4, 6:1.
2. round:
Hrazdil, Camus (Czech Republic/Austria) – Kalina, Jakubenko (Czech Republic/Ukraine) 7:6 ( 7:2), 6:4.
Junior girls:
Singles – 2nd round:
< p>Valentová (11-ČR) – Mesterová (Romania) 6:1, 6:2.
