Novak Djokovic put a slow start in the rear-view mirror to reach the French Open semi-finals with a 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 comeback win over Karen Khachanov on Tuesday.
The third seed was playing a record 14th straight quarter-final at Roland Garros and his 17th here overall.
The win which took three and three-quarter hours was his ninth from 10 meetings in the series.
Leading two sets to one, the 22-time Grand Slam champion hit a bad patch as he dropped serve on a double-fault, 4-4.
But he struck back in the next game with a re-break of Khachanov and wserved out viotry a game later with his 11th ace.
“I can play better, but I’m happy to be in another semi-final,” the two-time Paris winner said.
“He played quality tennis for the first two sets. I needed time to find my rhythm.
“I came into the match a bit slow.”
But he added: “I played the perfect tiebreaker (to love) and then lifted to play at a higher level.
“At the end I won eight points in a row.
“But that’s what you expect in a Grand Slam quarter-final. You have to fight for these wins – no one is going to hand them to you.”
Djokovic out-hit his opponent 57 winners to 38, though each had just over 40 unforced errors.
The Serb saved eight of ten break points while breaking four times.
“Karen plays a very aggressive game but is maybe not the best mover.
“I tried to expose him with drop shots. In the end it worked, but I have a lot of respect for him.”
Khachanov became the first player at this edition to win a set against Djokovic.
