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Karen Khachanov acknowledged beating Novak Djokovic is one of "the toughest tasks in tennis" but remains hopeful that he can prepare a strong tactic and then execute it perfectly against the Serb. Khachanov, ranked at No 11 in the world, defeated Lorenzo Sonego 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7) 6-1 to set up a French Open quarterfinal against Djokovic.
“I’m not going to tell you my chess moves, no? Because you’re going to tell him straightaway (smiling). Yeah, against him, you need to play really good chess, I mean, I guess to beat him. But definitely I will prepare tomorrow.
But of course, you know, he’s one of the toughest tasks, toughest opponents, and, you know, you cannot count him out," Khachanov said, via Tennis Majors.
Khachanov has one win against Djokovic
Khachanov, 27, and 36-year-old Djokovic are set to meet for the 10th time in their respective careers.
In their previous nine matches, Djokovic clinched eight wins and one loss against Khachanov. Khachanov's lone win over Djokovic came in the 2018 Paris Masters final, when he upset the Serb for his first Masters title. Khachanov maybe hasn't had much success against Djokovic but the Russian has been playing extremely well at the Grand Slam stage over the last 10 months.
After making back-to-back Grand Slam semifinals at the 2022 US Open and 2023 Australian Open, Khachanov is a win away from his third consecutive Major semifinal. “My brain clicked, you know. That helped, no? To be honest, I said it last year, I think after reaching the first semi-finals in US Open, you know, a lot of things changed in my head also.
And in my mental part, you know, I saw that I could do this step forward, you know. After playing quarterfinals, I could do this step forward to make semifinals first time," Khachanov said. It remains to be seen if Khachanov can upset Djokovic in the French Open quarterfinal.