French Open Day 10: Novak Djokovic defeats Karen Khachanov to make 45th Grand Slam semifinal

Novak Djokovic, the No. 3 seed, rallied from one set down beat No. 11 Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 on Day 10 of the French Open. That was Djokovic’s 45th career Grand Slam semifinal, just one fewer than Roger Federer’s current record of 46.

It was apparent immediately that Khachanov didn’t just come to play, he came to win. His serve wasn’t at its best, but his returns were blistering, giving Djokovic very little time to react. Khachanov noticed that Djokovic was off to a slow start, and spent the entire first set sending a barrage of 80 m.p.h. tennis balls his way.

Down 5-3 with the opening set on the line, Djokovic made a stand, fending off multiple set points to get within one game of tying it up, but that’s as far as he got. Constantly off balance and struggling to find his form, Djokovic couldn’t get past Khachanov and started the second set down 1-0.

But Khachanov’s intensity backed off in the second set. He was blasting fewer winners and making more unforced errors. Djokovic still wasn’t in top form, but was getting there. He found ways to capitalize on the change in Khachanov’s game, dueling to a 6-6 tie. It wasn’t clear who would prevail, especially since Djokovic had generated zero break points through two sets. But then he completely dominated the tiebreak, scoring seven points and winning the set before Khachanov had scored even one tiebreak point.

The announcers expected Djokovic to completely take over after winning the second set tiebreak, and he did. The first game of the third set took nine and a half minutes and contained five deuces, but after he won that, he was off to the races. He took the set 6-2 in just 42 minutes.

Khachanov was still struggling with his serve in the fourth set, but had to make something happen or he was going to lose quickly. Khachanov started giving his returns more zip again after Djokovic won the first two games, winning the third game and putting up a good fight in the fourth. That good fight included this mind-blowing point, which Khachanov won though he lost the game.

Despite the lengthening odds, Khachanov kept fighting. And Djokovic’s choice to play aggressive started to backfire. He made several unforced errors, which only resulted in him getting angry and making more mistakes to blow the game and let Khachanov tie it at 4-4.

But that was Djokovic’s final mistake. It took him just three minutes and 32 seconds to win his fifth and sixth game, winning the set and the match.

Djokovic will face the winner of Tuesday’s second quarterfinal match, either Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas.