Former world number one Novak Djokovic produced a high-class comeback triumph over eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, becoming the only tennis player in history to reach four Olympic singles semifinals, Thursday in Paris.
Making his fifth appearance at the Olympic Games, Novak Djokovic continues his quest for a gold medal, a feat that thus far has eluded him, after rallying to defeat Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6(3) in barely over two hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Thursday.
However, Djokovic, who underwent surgery early in June due to a torn medial meniscus in his right knee, an injury that forced him to withdraw from Roland-Garros, raised concerns when the 24-time major champion limped during the second set.
Visibly in pain, the Serbian called for the physio to receive treatment.
Following his quarterfinal contest, the 37-year-old expressed he was pleased with the victory but worried about the injury ahead of his next match.
On Friday, the top seed is scheduled to face in-form Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who stunned defending Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev, 7-5, 7-5, becoming the first Italian player (male or female) to advance to the Olympics singles semifinals since Seul 1988.
The Match as It Happened
Djokovic dominated the opening set behind his serve, winning 77 percent of the first serve points and 100 percent on his second to wrap up 6-3 after 44 minutes.
Early in the second set, he started to show signs of discomfort in his right knee, which quickly impacted his game, 0-3 down on the scoreboard, eventually calling for the physio to receive treatment.
On the other side of the net, Tsitsipas added pressure, breaking twice to extend his advantage to 4-0.
From there, the Belgrade-born put in motion a world-class recovery, breaking back to narrow the gap at 1-4 and receiving medical attention for a second time in the set.
His movement seemed to improve, determined not to let his dream slip, he went the distance, fighting back from 3-5, saving three set points on return in the ninth game to earn the break, finding his way to a tiebreak he pocketed, punching his ticket to the last four in the City of Lights.
Djokovic hit 28 winners to 25 unforced errors, converted three of six break points, and won 71 percent of the points on his first serve.
Capturing his 17th Olympic singles match victory was far from easy sailing; whether he will be fit to play tomorrow remains a question mark.
En route to the last four, the world No. 2 moved past Australian Matthew Ebden, long-time rival Rafael Nadal, and German Dominik Koepfer before halting Tsitsipas Olympic run, all without dropping a set.
