Wimbledon: Shapovalov outlasts Khachanov to set Djokovic semifinal

The Wimbledon quarterfinal seemed to be slipping away from Shapovalov when he trailed by two sets to one, but he hit back to win 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov produced a storming finish to beat Karen Khachanov in five sets and reach the Wimbledon semifinals on Wednesday.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov produced a storming finish to beat Karen Khachanov in five sets and reach the Wimbledon semifinals on Wednesday, his deepest run at a Grand Slam tournament.

The quarterfinal seemed to be slipping away from the stylish 22-year-old left-hander when he trailed by two sets to one but he hit back to win 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

Shapovalov, who put out twice winner Andy Murray in the third round, will play defending champion and top seed Novak Djokovic on Friday when he will bid to become only the second Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final.

Both 10th seed Shapovalov and 25th seed Khachanov were playing in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for only the second time and they delivered a superb contest on a packed No.1 Court.

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Shapovalov carried the form he showed in a fourth round hammering of Spaniard Robert Bautista Agut into his second career clash with Khachanov and took the opening set courtesy of a single break of serve in the ninth game.

But rock-solid Khachanov responded to go 4-0 ahead in the second set and although Shapovalov re-focused it was too late to save the set. Khachanov then pounced on a Shapovalov lapse to break serve at 5-5 in the third set, holding his own serve in the next game to move to within one set of victory.

Shapovalov hit a purple patch to dominate the fourth set and as the match went into the decider the 25-year-old Khachanov seemed to be feeling the pace.

He hung on grimly, scrambling out of a hole when he fell 0-40 down on serve at 2-2. Shapovalov piled on the pressure again at 4-4 and saw three break points go begging before Khachanov sent a tired-looking forehand long on a fourth.

Serving for the biggest win of his career, Shapovalov overcame a nervy double-fault and brought up two match points with a forehand winner, before sealing victory when Khachanov dumped a backhand into the net.