- Miami Open Draws and Schedule for Tuesday, March 19, 2024
- Miami Open Draws and Schedule for Monday, March 18, 2024
- Men’s Tennis Final In Indian Wells • BNP Open • Carlos Is Himself Again By Alix Ramsay
- BNP Paribas Open Finals Photo Gallery by Rob Stone
- Alcaraz defends Indian Wells title, Swiatek also wins for second time
- Home For Sale Minutes From The Indian Wells Tennis Gardens
- BNP Paribas Open Men’s Semifinal Photo Gallery by Rob Stone
- SOLINCO NEW RACQUETS THE WHITEOUT AND BLACKOUT XTD+
- Alcaraz halts Sinner hot streak in semis of BNP Paribas Open
- BNP Paribas Open Draws and Schedule for Sunday, March 17, 2024
- BNP Paribas Open Women’s Semifinal Photo Gallery by Rob Stone
- BNP Paribas Open Draws and Schedule for Saturday, March 16, 2024
- BNP Paribas Open Quarterfinal Photo Gallery by Rob Stone
- Pegula, Keys, Navarro Lead U.S. BJK Cup Squad
- BNP Paribas Open Draws and Schedule for Friday, March 15, 2024
Djokovic Beats Khachanov for 12th Roland Garros Semifinal
- Updated: June 6, 2023
First-set turbulence wasn’t stalling a high-flying Novak Djokovic today.
Down a set, Djokovic brushed clumped clay free from the bottom of his Asics shoes, dug in closer to the baseline and stormed back with belief to thwart the threat of explosive Karen Khachanov.
Booming an ace down the middle, Djokovic sealed a 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 triumph to reach the Roland Garros semifinals for the 12th time.
Playing with greater precision as the match progressed, Djokovic streaked through eight straight points to sew up his 90th Roland Garros victory, improving to 90-16 in Paris.
Final four feels 🙌#RolandGarros | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/LCsoHhDy9s
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2023
It is Djokovic’s 45th career Grand Slam semifinal, second only to rival Roger Federer’s Open Era record of 46 major semifinals.
Credit Khachanov from bringing more energy and firepower at the outset.
Two-time champion Djokovic proclaimed before the tournament he liked chances against any opponent on any surface in best-of-five set matches. Given Djokovic’s dominant 5-set record you can understand his confidence.
Best-of-five gives Djokovic time to adjust and apply his versatility as he did today, cutting down his unforced errors and minimizing the moon ball forays from the first set with assertive deep drives to forcing the 6’6″ Khachanov to hit on the move.
Smoother movement around the court combined with some deft down the line drives fueled Djokovic to his ninth win in 10 meetings vs. Khachanov.
It’s the third straight major semifinal for the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, who denied Khachanov his third consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.
Continuing his historic flight toward a men’s record 23rd Grand Slam title, Djokovic will face either world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz or fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in Sunday’s final.
If Tsitsipas prevails, he will face Djokovic in a rematch of the 2021 Roland Garros final that saw the Serbian roar back from a two-set deficit to capture his second French Open championship.
In their lone prior meeting at the 2022 Madrid, Alcaraz masterfully mixed forehand rockets with feather duster droppers, out-dueling then world No. 1 Djokovic 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) rising to his maiden Mutua Madrid Open final in a dizzying three hour, 35-minute classic match.
The 19-year-old Alcaraz made history as the first man to conquer king of clay Rafael Nadal and 20-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic in succession at a clay-court tournament.