Novak Djokovic has defeated Greece’s Stefano Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the Olympics to book a place in the semifinal of the 2024 games. The Serbian is now one match away from his first Olympic final on his fifth attempt. The Olympics is the only major title the world No. 2 hasn’t won yet after winning 24 Grand Slam titles and seven ATP World Tour Finals.
Coming off the back of a knee injury sustained on this same surface in June’s Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic barreled to the final of the Wimbledon Championships, his sixth consecutive final in the All England Club, and his 10th overall. The Serbian will look to win the Olympic gold medal, closing out his illustrious career with both a career Golden Slam and a career Super Slam.
Novak Djokovic Battles Past Stefano Tsitsipas
After defeating Germany’s Dominik Koepfer in the third round yesterday, Novak Djokovic qualified to take on Stefano Tsitsipas. The Greek had earlier defeated Argentina’s Sebastian Baez in straight sets, racing to a relatively easy straight-sets win.
This clash marked the 14th time Djokovic and Tsitsipas would meet each other on the ATP tour. Djokovic’s win has taken his dominance in their head-to-head record to 12 wins and two losses, he has won 11 straight contests over Tsitsipas.
Novak Djokovic took the first set of their Olympic quarterfinal clash 6-3 before exacerbating the knee injury he sustained in the French Open in the second set. The trainer came out to treat the knee sparking worry in the heart of the Serbian’s hopeful fans.
He then fell down 0-4 in the second set, eventually trailing 2-5 at a point in the set. Following this, the world No. 2 and Olympics top seed rallied himself and pulled out a comeback of miraculous proportions, saving three set points with the set at 3-5, and going on to force a tiebreak.
The Serbian juggernaut breezed through the tiebreak, riding on the momentum of his miraculous comeback to win the match. This win made him the oldest player in the history of the Olympics to get to the semifinal of the men’s singles category. Novak Djokovic will face Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinal.
Will 2024 Be Djokovic’s “Golden” Year?
The 2024 Paris Olympics is the fourth time Novak Djokovic has gotten to the semifinal of the Olympics. At 21, the Serbian appeared in the Olympics for the first time in his career in the 2008 edition in Beijing, China. He entered the tournament as the third seed behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
The Serbian dropped his first set of the tournament in the quarterfinals against France’s Gael Monfils before winning the second and third to get to the semifinal. He lost to the eventual winner, Rafael Nadal, in the semifinal but went on to win the bronze medal after defeating the USA’s James Blake in the bronze medal match.
Since then, Novak Djokovic has competed in every Olympics. He got to the semifinal again in 2012, losing again to the eventual winner, Andy Murray. He then went on to lose to Juan Martín del Potro, the eighth seed, in the bronze medal match.
He underperformed in the 2016 edition, losing in the first round to Juan Martín del Potro again. By the 2020 Summer Olympics that was played in 2021 due to the 2020 Covid lockdowns, the Serbian came back more determined than ever. Once again, he got to the semifinal of the tournament and lost, as usual, to the eventual winner, Alexander Zverev. He also lost to Pablo Carreño Busta in the bronze medal match.
Aged 37 with the next Olympic Games held when he is 41, Novak Djokovic has the 2024 Paris Olympics as his last realistic opportunity to win the elusive gold medal. Will he be able to get the job done and add another achievement to a historic career?
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