(Tennis news) The third-ranked player in the world, Novak, survived a scare in the French Open quarterfinal to advance to his 12th semifinal. Djokovic defeated Karen Khachanov of Russia in a four-set match to get to the men’s singles semifinals for the first time this year. Khachanov was defeated by Djokovic 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 to maintain his record-setting 23rd Grand Slam championship hope.

Appearing at Court Phillipe Chatrier, when playing the powerful Khachanov, Novak dropped his first set of the competition. By throwing Novak off guard with his powerful backhands, the Russian player made things difficult for him.

Novak needed the entirety of the second set to adjust to Khachanov’s ferocity after losing the first set because he was nervous. Khachanov was the Russian No. 11 in the world, and despite the fact that Novak was unable to break him in the second set, he did not appear to be outplayed.

After committing a significant number of errors in the second set’s tiebreaker, Djokovic started to play well. Djokovic had already dropped the first set 4-6 and had 14 unforced mistakes in the second set before the second set tie breaker. 

Khachanov was blanked 7-0 by Djokovic in the tie-breaker, which was played in front of a boisterous crowd. Djokovic, however, would not allow Khachanov to win a single point. Djokovic broke Khachanov to win the third set 6-2, and things appeared to be getting easier for him after that.

Once more, Novak and Karen both made a break in the fourth set, with the Serbian making the first to maintain his advantage at 5-4 and the former to draw level at 4-4. Khachanov was unable to make another return during the match, as Novak ultimately won 8 straight points. 

The winner of the match between No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz and No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday night will be the only player standing in his way of reaching a seventh French Open final, therefore he will be keenly observing that match.

Also read: Novak Djokovic set to play Karen Kachanov in the French Open