Djokovic dreams of gold: he beat Tsitsipas and reached the semi-finals of the Olympic Games :: Olé

01/08/2024 17:26hs.

Novak Djokovic (2nd) continues to make steady progress in Paris. The Serbian struggled more to beat the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (11°), for the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games, with partial scores of 6-3 and 7-6 (3) in two hours and 23 minutes. The 24-time Grand Slam winner thus remains in the running for the gold medal, the only personal trophy missing from his collection. Will fourth time be the charm for Nole?

The Serbian managed to reach the semi-finals, something that leaves him with the possibility of fighting for a medalAt the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the top GS winner reached this stage although he lost to Russian Karen Khachanov and then to Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta for the bronze medal.

Djokovic to the semi-finals of Paris 2024

Djokovic, who had just lost the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz and withdrawn from the Canadian Masters 1000, He displayed his best tennis against the Greek, who had just left Sebastián Báez (18th) behind, although once again his right knee almost played a trick on him.

In the first set, the world number 2 hit several winning shots against a Tsitsipas who did not know how to counter the Serbian’s attacks, who broke the opponent’s serve twice to take the first set 6-3.

Djokovic into the semi-finals. REUTERS/Edgar Su

In the second set, the story was different. Djokovic began to feel pain and Stefanos did not forgive: he broke the Serbian’s serve twice and went 4-0 up. However, the support of the crowd motivated the native of Belgrade and with each point won, Philipe Chatrier collapsedIn the ninth game, Tsitsipas was serving 40-0 and had everything set to send the match to a final set, but at that moment The best version of the Balkan player appeared, saving the three set points and sending the match to the tiebreak.

Finally, the top seed won 7-3 in the tiebreak, won the second set and reached the semi-finals, where will be compared with the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (16th) in search of the final for Olympic gold (until now he has never been able to advance to a final). For his part, Tsitsipas said goodbye to Paris and will now prepare to debut at the Masters 1000 in Toronto.

Tsitsipas said goodbye to Paris 2024. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Alcaraz, the other candidate, also fulfilled his promise

In addition to Nole, Carlos Alcaraz, who had just lost to Rafael Nadal in the doubles, is still firmly seeking to win the gold medal in his first Olympic Games. The Murcian defeated the American Tommy Paul (13th) by 6-3 and 7-6 (7). He will now face Felix Auger-Aliassime (18th), who beat Casper Ruud (6th), for a place in the final.

The Olympic Games semi-finals table

• Djokovic (2°) vs. Musetti (16°)
• Auger-Aliassime (18°) vs. Alcaraz (3°)