Perfect tiebreak was turning point but I need to improve-Djokovic

PARIS : Third seed Novak Djokovic's flawless second-set tiebreak proved the turning point in his victory over Karen Khachanov in their French Open quarter-final on Tuesday but the Serb said he needed to improve if he is to book a spot in Sunday's final.

Djokovic, who will face either Spain's world number one Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the last four on Friday, said a bad start almost cost him the match.

Yet he eventually prevailed 4-6 7-6(0) 6-2 6-4.

"It (tiebreak) was probably the turning point of the match," the 36-year-old, chasing a record-breaking 23rd men's singles Grand Slam title, said. "Winning the second set or, you know, losing the second set would be quite a big difference."

"It worked really well for me. I must say I played a perfect tiebreak, seven-love. Every point was perfectly scripted for me, so to say."

Djokovic, who is level on 22 majors with Rafael Nadal of Spain, had not dropped a set in his previous four rounds, but Khachanov had him on the ropes for almost two sets.

"Everything was going in a great direction and then I stepped out on the court today and probably part of me stayed in the locker room," Djokovic said. "That's how I felt, that's how I played."

"First couple sets, probably the worst two sets I played so far in the tournament. It's not the first match that I managed to turn things around. These kind of wins, I think serve as a great confidence booster mentally, so also physically and emotionally for me," he said.

"It's important to win a match where you were losing or you were being down and then you came back and won a match, especially at the latter stage of a Grand Slam," he said.

But he warned that he needs to up his game if he is to reach the final for a seventh