French Open 2023: Masterful Novak Djokovic battles back against Karen Khachanov to reach semi-finals

Novak Djokovic battled back from a set down to beat Karen Khachanov 4-6 7-6(0) 6-2 6-4 and reach the semi-finals of the French Open in a masterful performance following an early wobble. A lone break in the opening set was enough for Khachanov to take the first set in a surprise on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with Djokovic struggling to get going. Ad But the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion dug deep and responded by winning the second set tie-break in emphatic fashion, dishing out a 7-0 'bagel' in the decisive game as Khachanov wilted, while the Serbian stepped it up.

Roland-GarrosDjokovic blows kiss to 'yelling' fan after winning big pointAN HOUR AGO Djokovic followed that up with a couple of hugely impressive breaks in the third set, taking it 6-2 to move a set away from victory as he smoothly moved up through the gears. The Serbian star continued to put the pressure on his opponent in the fourth set, even if he didn't have it all his own way. Indeed having broken Khachanov to stand 4-3 ahead, the world No.

3 lost his own serve as the match threatened to go into a fifth. But Djokovic then carved out a break back straightaway as he moved to 5-4, and served it out to love to take his place in the last four. Speaking afterwards about the tough test Khachanov had provided, Djokovic said: «It [the difficulties he faced in the first two sets] was due to his quality of tennis; he was better for most of the first two sets.

»I was struggling to find my rhythm, making a lot of unforced errors. I came into the match quite slow and sluggish, but played a perfect tiebreak, and I played a couple of levels higher than the beginning and had a bit of a scare towards the end of the fourth, but managed to close it out. 'I'm disappointed