As expected, title favorites Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz reached the semi-final at the French Open 2023 on Tuesday, June 6, and will face off against each other to enter the finals. Top seed Alcaraz beat the world no.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the highly-anticipated quarter-final match while the 22-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic survived a tough result against Russian star Karen Khachanov to secure a spot in the final four in the Roland-Garros 2023.
Alcaraz dominated his Greek opponent in a straight sets win 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 to make it a one-sided affair. Tsitsipas put in strong resistance in the third set after the Spaniard's brilliance in the first two. But the latter managed to avoid the game going into the fourth round to end Tsitsipas' impressive run.
On the other hand, Djokovic faced his toughest challenge in the form of the world no.11 Khachanov. The Russian won the first set by 6-4 and was leading the second but the Serbian legend made a good comeback to clinch a hard-fought 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 win. Djokovic praised his opponent after the game and criticized himself for conceding unforced errors.
“Everything was going in a great direction and then I stepped out on the court today and probably part of me stayed in the locker room. That's how I felt, that's how I played,” said Djokovic. “But also credit to Karen for serving well, playing well. I made so many unforced errors, had a terrible start. That happens.”
In the women's singles event, the world no.2 Belarus star Aryna Sabalenka beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in a highly-anticipated political-bound clash to reach the last four. Last year's runner-up Coco Gauff and the world no.1 Iga Swiatek will rekindle their growing rivalry in a quarter-final clash on Wednesday, June 7. Gauff said she is going to produce the best game to overcome Swiatek's dominance ahead of the mouth-watering clash at Roland-Garros.
“I’m the type of mentality, if you want to be the best you have to beat the best,” Coco Gauff said. “I think also if you want to improve, you have to play the best.”
