Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz shared a laugh as the World No. 1 hit an outstanding winner during the semifinals of the Roland Garros on Friday.
The Spaniard locked horns with the 22-time Grand Slam winner in the first semifinal of the 2023 French Open. The reigning US Open winner will be hoping to win the second Grand Slam title of his career. Meanwhile, the Serb has his eyes on winning his 23rd Grand Slam singles title, the most in men's tennis.
The highly anticipated clash of the titans played out to its expectations. The 20-year-old hit a nearly impossible winner against the Serbian during the second set of the match. Such was the greatness of the shot that Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz both shared a laugh, still astounded by the perfectly executed winner.
Having lost the first set, the Spaniard was leading by a game and 15-0 when he ran near the net to return the veteran's drop shot, vacating the baseline. The Serbian was quick to act as he hit a shot prompting Alcaraz to run quickly to try to hit the shot.
Much to everyone's disbelief, the World No. 1 hit an almost no-look winner to win the point. The two Grand Slam winners smiled at each other with the legend applauding as the crowd roared to life.
Looking back on Novak Djokovic's 2023 French Open campaign so far
Novak Djokovic has had a rough start to the clay court swing. The 36-year-old lost in the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open and the Italian Open before boarding the plane to Paris. However, the World No. 3 has shown tremendous form in the 2023 French Open. En route to the semifinal clash, the Serbian dropped just one set, in the quarterfinals.
He kicked off his tournament with a convincing win over Aleksander Kovacevic as he beat the American, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1). He played another tie-breaker as he beat Marton Fucsovics to win the match, 7-6(2), 6-0, 6-3.
The former World No. 1 then faced Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. He survived two consecutive tie-breakers to eventually beat the Spaniard to advance to the next round.
Djokovic faced off Juan Pablo Varillas in the fourth round and won the match, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Up against, Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals, the two-time French Open winner rallied from a set down to beat the Russian, 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4.
If Djokovic manages to beat Alcaraz, he will face either Casper Ruud or Alexander Zverev in the summit clash on Sunday.
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