Novak Djokovic wins Russian roulette

PARIS, June 6

Third seed Novak Djokovic’s flawless second-set tiebreak proved the turning point in his victory over Karen Khachanov in their French Open quarterfinal today but the Serb said he needed to improve if he is to book a spot in Sunday’s final.

Djokovic, who will face either Spain’s world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the last-four on Friday, said a bad start almost cost him the match. Yet he eventually prevailed 4-6 7-6(0) 6-2 6-4.

“It (tiebreak) was probably the turning point of the match,” the 36-year-old, chasing a record-breaking 23rd men’s singles Grand Slam title, said. “Winning the second set or, you know, losing the second set would be quite a big difference.” “It worked really well for me. I must say I played a perfect tiebreak, seven-love.”

Sabalenka ousts Svitolina

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus powered past Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-4 in a highly anticipated clash to reach the semifinals.

The match was an intriguing prospect with Svitolina, who last year became a mother, refusing to shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which it calls a ‘special military operation’.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka next faces Czech Karolina Muchova, who stopped former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her tracks with a 7-5 6-2 victory to march into the semifinals for the first time in her career.

Sabalenka caused a furore by snubbing the media after her last two matches, having been grilled about the war and her country’s involvement as a staging ground for the Russian troops. But she was all business on Court Philippe Chatrier, cruising through her quarterfinal in straight sets despite a flurry of 37 unforced errors compared to her opponent’s 12.

Fanning the flames?

Svitolina accused Sabalenka of adding fuel to the fire by standing at the net waiting for a handshake she knew would never happen at the end of their match.

“I don’t know, to be fair, what she was waiting for, because my statements were clear enough about the handshake,” said Svitolina, who was booed by the crowd as she walked straight to her bench after the loss. “I was expecting that and it was not a surprise for me,” she said of the jeers, which she also received when not shaking hands with Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in the previous round. Asked if Sabalenka was looking to inflame the situation by standing at the net instead of also walking back to her bench, Svitolina said: “Yeah, I think so. My initial reaction, was like, what are you doing? Because, in all my press conferences I made my position clear.” — Reuters

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