Djokovic, Sabalenka, Muchova book spots in French Open semis

Novak Djokovic overcame a first-set blip to beat Russian Karen Khachanov 4-6 7-6(0) 62 6-4 and reach the French Open semifinals yesterday, staying on course for a recordbreaking 23rd men's singles Grand Slam title.

The twice Roland Garros champion could not find a weakness in the 11th-seeded Khachanov's serve at first, but once he took the second set tiebreak there was no looking back for the Serbian.

The last man standing between him and a seventh French Open title will be the winner of last night’s match between world number one Carlos Alcaraz and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

On Court Philippe Chatrier, the 36-year-old did not have a single break opportunity and looked a tad slow in the opening set, but his metronomic game eventually clicked and there was little Khachanov could do to top his opponent's march into the last four.

Khachanov stole Djokovic's serve to lead 3-2 and, though the world number three threatened in a 10-minute ninth game, the Russian held and went on to pocket the set.

There were no break points in the second set but Khachanov started to struggle, failing to score a point in the tiebreak as Djokovic levelled the contest.

Djokovic got the early break thanks to a netcord in the third and stole Khachanov's serve again to move one set from victory with apparent ease.

The Serbian broke again early in the fourth set, only to serve a double fault that allowed Khachanov to level for 4-4 and keep his slim hopes of an upset alive.

Coming back in the set cost Khachanov too much though and the Russian was broken to love in the following game, losing eight points in a row as Djokovic ended the contest with an ace.

Earlier yesterday, world number two Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus powered past Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-4 to reach the semifinals.

The match was highly anticipated, with Svitolina refusing to shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Sabalenka, who next faces Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova, caused a furore in recent days, snubbing the media after being grilled about the war and her country’s involvement as a staging ground for Russian weapons and troops.

With several Ukrainian flags unfurled in the half-empty stands of Court Philippe Chatrier, the pair traded blows at the start with neither managing to carve out a single break point in the first eight games.

But favourite Sabalenka, aiming for the world number one spot with a title win in Paris, grabbed the key break and then served out the first set a little later, with her opponent looping a backhand wide.

Svitolina broke for 2-0 in the second set as Sabalenka hit her 23rd unforced error but the Ukrainian was still on the back foot and allowed her opponent to pull the break back when she netted a backhand.

Sabalenka continued her demolition job, breaking again for 3-2 with a forehand.

Svitolina stayed afloat thanks to her opponent’s countless unforced errors, but the outcome was always in the Belarusian’s hands.

Sabalenka ended it on the second match point with yet another forehand winner and boos were heard as Svitolina walked to her bench while Sabalenka waited at the net.

“She’s a tough opponent, she moves very well,” Sabalenka said of her challenging start.

In the day’s first match on the same court, Muchova stopped resurgent former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her tracks with a 7-5 6-2 victory to march into the Roland Garros semifinals for the first time.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s been an incredible two weeks and I’m glad I’m still in the competition,” she said.

Muchova has largely flown under the radar in Paris this year after she stunned eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the opening round and the unseeded 26-year-old began brightly in front of a sparse crowd with an early break.*

But Pavlyuchenkova, who has fallen to 333 in the world after injury kept her out of action last year, stayed within touching distance with a tight hold and sprung to life in the next game to draw level at 3-3.

After the pair exchanged breaks again, Muchova pinned her Russian opponent back with some deep groundstrokes to bag the opening set and made early inroads in the next.

Muchova appeared more comfortable in the second set and built a commanding 5-1 lead before Pavlyuchenkova showed signs of resistance.

But there was no comeback as Muchova closed out the match on serve, celebrating the victory when Pavlyuchenkova fired a shot wide.