Is the Djoker chasing more records in Paris?
107 wins from 109 matches played and 14 overall victories in men’s singles at the French Open – some of Rafael Nadal’s records may last forever. However, the bull from Manacor has been rid of at least one record since yesterday: Novak Djokovic is the first player ever to reach the French Open quarter-finals for the 17th time.
Rafael Nadal has “only” 16 appearances in the last eight. In the run-up to the match between Novak Djokovic and Karen Khachanov, the Serb’s entry into the semifinals is under a good star.
After all, the 22-time Grand Slam winner has a record of eight wins from nine meetings against the Russian. Moreover, unlike top favourite Carlos Alcaraz, who could be waiting in a possible semi-final, the Djoker has not lost a set in the tournament. The prognosis for Novak Djokovic against Karen Khachanov is that the Serb will be able to continue his run.
However, it has to be said that Karen Khachanov is quite at home on the big stages. The Russian has already reached the semi-finals of the US Open 2022 and the Australian Open 2023 and could now reach the semi-finals of three consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. Considering that the player from Moscow has only won 21% of his matches against top 10 players so far, everything speaks in favour of the favoured Serb in our eyes.
Accordingly, it is a good bet that the Djoker will once again remain without losing a set. We therefore recommend betting on Novak Djokovic winning 3:0.
Novak Djokovic – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 3
Position in the seedings: 3
The 36-year-old Serb Novak Djokovic is driven by three big goals at Roland Garros. On the one hand, he could win his 23rd Grand Slam title and become the sole record holder in the eternal rankings.
On the other hand, with his third overall victory at the French Open, the Djoker would also become the first player ever to perfect his third career Grand Slam. Last, but not least, the tournament win would return him to number one in the ATP world rankings.
Won 89 of the 105 singles matches at the French Open
The Belgrade player really didn’t burn too much over the course of the tournament.
The 36-year-old reached the French Open quarter-finals for the 17th time in his career with four easy 3-0 victories that even gave Novak Djokovic time to open up sideshows and engage with the crowd on a number of occasions.
Nole now has 24 wins from 28 singles matches played in the 2023 calendar year, taking his singles tally at Roland Garros to 89 wins from 105 singles matches. The odds are also clearly in favour of the Serbian superstar when it comes to Novak Djokovic against Karen Khachanov.
80,7% of service games won during the tournament
In this quarter-final, the head-to-head record also favours the Djoker, who has won eight of nine encounters with Karen Khachanov. The fact that the Belgrade player has not yet lost a set in the tournament is also due to his strong service game.
Although the Serb has won 80.7% of his service games at the French Open (46 out of 57), he has already surrendered eleven service games in four matches. However, it was the strong first serve in particular that led to Novak Djokovic successfully defending exactly 50% of all opponent break points in the course of the tournament (17 out of 28).
Karen Khachanov – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 11
Position in the seedings: 11
The 27-year-old Russian Karen Khachanov celebrated his big breakthrough in 2018 when he won a total of three of his four singles titles on the ATP Tour. The big highlight for the man who won the silver medal at the 2021 Olympic Games was truly the Masters tournament in Paris.
Here, the Muscovite secured the first and only Major title of his career so far with a straightforward 2:0 victory over his current opponent Novak Djokovic. However, that triumph in the French capital was also his last title to date in the last five years.
Win rate of only 21% against top-10 players
While Karen Khachanov’s career is still going strong today. Otherwise, the Russian, who most recently reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament twice in a row at the US Open 2022 and the Australian Open 2023 and is now once again among the top eight players at Roland Garros, would not logically be ranked eleventh in the ATP world rankings.
The fact that he has not won any more titles, however, is also due to the fact that the Muscovite finds it extremely difficult, especially in duels with the top stars on the ATP Tour. The 27-year-old has a win rate of just 21% against top 10 players (only twelve wins from 56 matches).
Won 23 of 33 singles matches in 2023
Even in the current year, when the Russian is on 23 wins from 33 singles matches, it was mostly the top-10 players who slowed him down. He lost to Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid, Andrey Rublev in Monte Carlo, Daniil Medvedev in Miami and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open.
The odds are accordingly stacked against Novak Djokovic against Karen Khachanov that the 27-year-old will be able to stand up to a top star now of all times, especially as the Muscovite has lost all seven of his last encounters with the Djoker and has won just two sets in these seven duels.
Novak Djokovic – Karen Khachanov Direct comparison / H2H record
Head to head: 8:1
Nine times both athletes have faced each other so far and in eight of the nine cases Novak Djokovic prevailed in the end. The Serb also won the only two clay-court duels and was only beaten 2-0 by Karen Khachanov in the aforementioned final of the 2018 Paris Masters on indoor hard courts.
Novak Djokovic – Karen Khachanov Tip
With Novak Djokovic against Karen Khachanov, the betting odds are swinging in all shapes and forms in the direction of the former world number one, who has strolled into the quarter-finals of the French Open for the 17th time in his career with four 3-0 wins. The Serb now faces an opponent against whom he has won seven singles matches in a row and who, in turn, has a win rate of only 21% against top-10 players. The 36-year-old Belgrade player’s role as a clear favourite is therefore justified.
In view of Novak Djokovic’s performance in the tournament so far against Karen Khachanov, the prediction that the Djoker will record an outright 3-0 win over the Russian is very coherent.
