Novak Djokovic extended his streak of consecutive ATP matches won to 14 as he defeated Karen Khachanov at the 2022 Astana Open.
After not playing for more than two months, the Serbian is enjoying a lot of tennis. First, he played at the exhibition event Laver Cup, then he moved to Tel Aviv and now, Novak Djokovic competes at the 2022 Astana Open in Kazakhstan. He's yet to lose a set since winning his first set against Pablo Andujar in Israel 6-0.
Speaking ahead of his quarterfinal match, the 21-time Grand Slam champion mentioned how strong the draw in Astana is, when he said: "The tournament had a very strong line-up and when I saw the draw I was surprised because such a line-up is usually gathered at the Masters or Grand Slams."
After defeating Botic van de Zandschulp, the Serbian met Karen Khachanov, who he defeated already twice this season. First, Djokovic won in Dubai and then he also triumphed on home soil in Belgrade.
Despite the best efforts from the Russian, their meeting in Kazakhstan was no different. Djokovic started with an early break and soon he had a 3-0 lead that looked decisive.
However, Khachanov managed to fight back and level the score to 3-3 and later 4-4. But that wasn't enough to stop world number 7, who created another break point chance and used it to win the first set 6-4.
In the second set, Djokovic gave no break point chances to his opponent and after an hour and 27 minutes, he defeated Khachanov 6-4, 6-3. In the semifinals, he will meet winner of the match between Roberto Bautista Agut and the second-seeded Daniil Medvedev.
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