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2023 French Open
ATP Tour
Semi-finals
Stade Roland Garros
Paris, France
Friday, 9 June 2023
No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic will face his first big test at the
2023 French Open when goes up against world No .1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals on Friday, June 9.
The Serbian made light work of the unseeded Aleksandar Kovacevic, Marton Fucsovics, Juan Pablo Varillas, as well as No. 29 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina before dropping his first set against the 11th-seeded Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals, coming from behind to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic hasn't been as successful at Roland Garros compared to the other three Grand Slam tournaments, although he's still managed to reach the final six times and lifted 'The Musketeers' Cup' on three occasions, most recently in 2021.
The world No. 3 is seeking the 23rd Grand Slam title of his career, having won the Australian Open in January to equal the record of long-standing rival Rafael Nadal with 22 victories.
Image copyright: Getty Images
However, standing in his way is Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic 7-6, 7-5, 7-6 in their only previous meeting at the 2022 Madrid Open on his way to winning the title on home soil.
The 36-year-old believes his fightback against Khachanov is good preparation for the showdown with the Spanish youngster, who has also dropped just one set en route to the last four.
"These kind of wins, you know, I think serve as a great confidence booster mentally, so also physically and emotionally for me," he said.
"It's important to win a match where you were losing or you were being down and then you came back and [win]. So especially at the latter stages of a Grand Slam against the top players."
Last five French Open winners
2022 - Rafael Nadal (ESP)
2021 - Novak Djokovic (SRB)
2020 - Rafael Nadal (ESP)
2019 - Rafael Nadal (ESP)
2018 - Rafael Nadal (ESP)
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