The dream semi-final at the French Open is perfect: on Friday in Paris there will be a big generational duel between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
The 36-year-old Grand Slam record winner Djokovic gave up a set against the Russian Olympic finalist Karen Khachanov for the first time in the tournament, but won confidently – his 20-year-old opponent then gave Stefanos Tsitsipas no chance.
In the end it was 6: 2, 6: 1, 7: 6 (7: 5) between the strong Alcaraz and the Greek world number five, who disappointed across the board. After 2:12 hours, the Spaniard converted his sixth match point.
Tsitsipas, who had previously presented himself in strong form, was only able to keep up at the end and lost a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time.
Alcaraz was able to win the only match against Djokovic
Djokovic had significantly more problems with Khachanov, especially at the beginning, but eventually won 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 0), 6: 2, 6: 4. The Serb, who had won 29 sets in a row at Grand Slam level before the game, is in the semifinals for the twelfth time in Roland Garros. The winner of 2016 and 2021 is still aiming for the 23rd Grand Slam title of his career – so far he has shared the record with Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who was unable to participate due to injury.
US Open winner Alcaraz, who failed in the quarterfinals last year to Alexander Zverev, is playing for his second major title in top form this time. He is now the youngest semi-finalist in Paris since Djokovic reached the semi-finals in 2007 at the age of 20.
The semi-final on Friday is only the second duel between the two top favorites. In 2022 Alcaraz narrowly won in Madrid.