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Djokovic celebrates after his victory in the quarterfinals
Photo: Jean-François Badias / dpa
The dream semi-finals at the French Open are perfect: On Friday, there will be a big generational duel between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in Paris. 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.
Alcaraz, who is 16 years younger than Djokovic, gave Stefanos Tsitsipas no chance. In the end, it was 6: 2, 6: 1, 7: 6 (7: 5) between the strong Spaniard and the Greek world number five, who disappointed all along the line. After 2:12 hours, Alcaraz converted his sixth match point. Tsitsipas, who had previously been in strong form, could only keep up in the end and lost a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time.
Djokovic had much more problems with Khachanov, especially at the beginning, but finally 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 shares the record with Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who is not participating due to injury.
US Open winner Alcaraz, who failed in the quarterfinals against Alexander Zverev last year, is playing for his second major title this time in absolute top form. He is now the youngest semi-finalist in Paris - since Djokovic reached the semi-finals in 2007 at the age of 20.
Friday's semi-final is only the second duel between the two top favourites. In 2022, Alcaraz narrowly won in Madrid.
KTZ/SID