Novak Djokovic wows French Open interviewer after Karen Khachanov win
Mats Wilander was left surprised by Novak Djokovic‘s calm manner within the aftermath of his French Open quarter-final victory over Karen Khachanov on Tuesday afternoon. Djokovic battled again from a set right down to beat his Russian opponent and e-book his place within the final 4 at Roland Garros, the place he’ll face both Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot on this 12 months’s ultimate.
The Serb was pegged again within the very first set due to a quick begin from Khachanov however managed to win a tiebreak within the second earlier than breezing via the following two units to wrap up a formidable victory, which marked the ninetieth of his profession at Roland Garros. Djokovic was interviewed by Mats Wilander on the court docket simply moments after wrapping up proceedings and left the Swede in awe of his unrivalled composure, along with his sturdy psychological outlook making the distinction within the tiebreak on the finish of set two.
“He said it’s one of the more interesting courts to play on,” Wilander advised Eurosport when requested to translate what Djokovic had mentioned in his reply to a query that was given in French.
“He was a little subdued in a way, maybe because we had to speak English, but maybe that’s just him: job done, didn’t play well in the beginning then played better, Karen played good. I’m like wow, he’s so calm and so focused in a way.”
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Djokovic started his quest for a 3rd French Open title with victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic within the opening spherical earlier than beating Marton Fucsovics, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Juan Pablo Varillas previous to his newest win over Khachanov. The 36-year-old was stuffed with reward for his downed opponent within the aftermath of Tuesday’s quarter-final showdown and was not ashamed to confess that Khachanov was the higher participant general within the first half of the competition.
“I was struggling to find my rhythm, making unforced errors, and came into the match quite slow and sluggish, but I played a perfect tiebreak and from then onwards I played a couple levels higher than in the beginning,” defined Djokovic.
“It was a bit of a scare at the end of the fourth but I managed to win eight points in a row. It’s a big fight, something you expect in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. You’re not going to have victories handed to you and I’m glad to have overcome it today.
“I feel I missed a few straightforward photographs at the moment. These issues occur, typically it really works rather well, typically it does not. He’s very aggressive and has an enormous serve [but] perhaps he does not transfer as nicely so I attempted to reveal him and make it unpredictable for him.”