Stefanos Tsitsipas

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic advanced to the men’s singles semifinals at the Roland Garros Grand Slam tournament.

TASR,
Pravda

06.06.2023 19:18, updated: 23:03

In the position of the seeded three, he defeated the Russian Karen Khačanov 4:6, 7:6 (0), 6:2, 6:4 in the quarterfinals on the Paris clay.

In the semi-finals, he will face the highest seeded Carlos Alcaraz.

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The eleven of the tournament was enough for the favorite with breath in the first two sets. In the beginning, he took advantage of Chačan’s break at 2:2 and finally won it for himself in the ratio of 6:4. The second was decided by a tiebreaker.

In it, the Serb did not give his opponent any chance, the Russian did not win a single ball. Djokovic was already in control of the final two sets, Khačanov had less strength and after 3 hours and 38 minutes the match ended in favor of the 22-time Grand Slam winner.

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The Serb ended the duel with an ace, giving a total of eleven in the match.

“In the first two sets, I couldn’t find my rhythm, I made a lot of unforced errors. I dominated from the managed tiebreak, my game went up.

It was a battle, I will never have an easy opponent at this stage of the Grand Slam tournament. I’m glad I dealt with him,” said Djokovic directly on the court after the match.

His semi-final opponent, Alcaraz, in the quarter-finals, defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the five seeded unit, 6:2, 6:1, 7:6 (5). It gave him his first ever loss at this stage of any of the big four events.

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Alcaraz won the first set thanks to breaks in the third and seventh games. The Spaniard made a good return on the Paris clay, played aggressively in exchanges and pushed Tsitsipas defensively from the forehand. The second act was also clearly directed by Alcaraz, who quickly built up a decisive lead of 4:1.

Tsitsipas had a frustrated impression on the court, making too many unforced errors. At the beginning of the third set, Alcaraz jumped the Greek to 3:0 and at 5:2 he had two match points at his disposal.

Tsitsipas turned them away, in the next few minutes thanks to his fighting performance he equalized at 5:5 and forced a tiebreak, but Alcaraz celebrated his success in it.

“In any situation, I believe that I can win matches at Grand Slam tournaments. At the end of the third set, I lost a little concentration, Stefanos improved.

Fortunately, I mobilized again in the tiebreak. I’m glad that the fans show me such support. Everyone is definitely looking forward to my match with Novak.

He is one of the best players in the world, I will try to give a hundred percent performance,” said Alcaraz after the first promotion to the elite Parisian quartet in an interview with former French tennis player Marion Bartoli.