Karen Khachanov calls his French Open quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic a ‘CHESS’ match owing to the Serb’s mental prowess
Kachanov strategizes to play like a chess grandmaster, and aims to outsmart Novak Djokovic on the court
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Novak Djokovic and Karen Khachanov ( Image via Tennis World USA)
Novak Djokovic is set to face Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals of the 2023 French Open. This will be the 10th time that these players face each other. Novak Djokovic has won eight out of their nine encounters so far. Karen Khachanov’s lone victory came in the final of the 2018 Paris Masters. Khachanov is treating his next match against Djokovic as a chess match and keeping his moves secret.
“I will not tell you my plans for “that chess match” – because you will immediately convey everything to him. With him you have to be an excellent chess player to play a good match, to win… I will start preparing for that match tomorrow, I have a day to make an analysis, to see what I can do better. I will watch his matches and make a plan. He is one of the toughest opponents, you can’t write him off; I respect him, but I’m focused on my arsenal of shots – and we’ll see if I can win.” Said Khachanov.
The Russian will be focused on analyzing Novak Djokovic to get the better of the Serb. Khachanov did not talk about his game plan to the media to hide it from Djokovic. Khachanov thinks that Djokovic is one of the most formidable opponents to face, but he plans on using his ‘ arsenal’ of shots to win. Khachanov mentioned that he likes to play chess with José Clavet during the day to open up his brain. This allows him to focus better and predict the opponent’s moves in order to beat them.
Djokovic has been in the top flight this French Open. He has not dropped any sets throughout the tournament. Even though Khachanov beat Djokovic to win the biggest title of his career but the rest of their Head-2-Head matches were won by the Serb. Djokovic seems highly focused on Roland Garros and might be bringing out his own mental chess game to cruise past Karen Khachanov.
Age is just a number for Novak Djokovic
John McEnroe was impressed by Novak Djokovic’s performances at this age. Djokovic is already 36 but is still at the top of his game. He has cruised past all of his opponents yet and made it to the quarter-finals of the 2023 French Open.
“Certainly he’s right there [alongside Nadal and Federer], and I think it’s amazing because he was trying to get into that mix for so long. To be playing so well at his age is hard to believe, actually,” said McEnroe.
John McEnroe was also impressed by the Serb’s confidence. He mentioned that he was impressed by Djokovic’s spirit and his undying will to be considered the greatest of all time.
“I don’t have the records in front of me, but he has talked about it so openly, that it’s a goal of his and he embraces that. I think that takes a lot of guts in itself to say ‘I want it’ rather than just say ‘I want to do the best I can and whatever happens happens’,” McEnroe said.
As Djokovic is eyeing a record 23rd Grand Slam, it will certainly be an enormous feat to achieve. What does the rest of the tournament have in store for the Serb? Only time will tell.
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Ujan Chakraborty
(1240 Articles Published)