Novak Djokovic keeps up his great form as he beats Karen Khachanov in straight sets to reach the semi-final of the 2022 Astana open.
This marks the 2nd tournament in a row where Novak Djokovic is making a debut at. Just last week, Djokovic played at the Tel Aviv Open for the first time. He won the tournament in a flawless fashion without dropping a single set. Immediately after winning the tournament, he headed for Astana, Kazakhstan to make yet another debut.
Djokovic entered the tournament as a top seed and a clear favorite. Unsurprisingly, the 21-time grand slam champion proved the predictions true as he cruised past every competition in front of him. Powering through Cristian Garín and van de Zandschulp in rounds 1 and 2, the Serb faced Karen Khachanov on his path to winning two ATP titles in a row.
Khachanov himself is in decent form. The Russian came to this event after a semi-final appearance in US Open 2022. However, the 26-year-old could barely put up a fight as Djokovic beat him 6-4, 6-3.
Sealed with an ACE! ????@DjokerNole moves on in Astana with a 6-4 6-3 win over Khachanov. Djokovic awaits the winner of Medvedev vs Bautista Agut#AstanaOpen pic.twitter.com/0J7Wr3fTDr
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 7, 2022
The first set was the more competitive of the two. After getting broken on his first service game, the Khachanov was able to return the favor soon enough. It failed to be of much use as Djokovic broke his serve once at 4-5 to take the first set. The next set was all Djokovic.
The world no. 7 broke his opponent in the 4th game of the set and kept that advantage to finally win the set and match 6-4, 6-3. The 35-year-old finished the match in style with a clean ace.
With this win, Djokovic is now on an 8-match winning streak. His opponent in the semi-final, which is scheduled for tomorrow, will be the winner of Medvedev vs Bautista Agut.
