WORLD No.3 Novak Djokovic is two wins away from a record 23 men’s singles Grand Slam titles after advancing to the French Open semi-finals today.
Aryna Sabalenka also reached the last four in women’s singles as she chases the No.1 spot in the world ranking.
Djokovic, 36, needed four sets to overcome No.11 seed Karen Khachanov to reach the 45th Grand Slam semi-final of his career, and 12th at Roland-Garros.
The Serb, who won this year’s Australian Open and is seeking to surpass Rafael Nadal in Grand Slam titles, took three hours 48 minutes to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.
“Against players like Karen – he has a big serve, maybe doesn’t move as well – I tried to expose him, make it unpredictable for him,” Djokovic said after his hard-earned victory, which was his 19th consecutive in Grand Slams.
“It worked in the end. It was a big fight – it always is with Karen. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a great fighter, a great player.
“These kind of wins, I think, serve as a great confidence booster mentally, so also physically and emotionally for me,” he added.
“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 stages of a Grand Slam against the top players.”
Belarusian Sabalenka ended the comeback of Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina with a 6-4, 6-4 victory on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The Australian Open champion extended her career-best showing at the French Open, earning a semi-final spot to take on Czech Karolina Muchova.
Sabalenka, who has condemned her country’s role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, can become world No.1 by outperforming Iga Swiatek this week in Paris.
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