A knee injury may prevent Novak Djokovic from winning an Olympic gold medal, but he will have to wait anxiously to find out. On Thursday, the player advanced to the semi-finals when his old rival Andy Murray announced his retirement.
A knee injury may prevent Novak Djokovic from winning an Olympic gold medal, but he will have to wait anxiously to find out. On Thursday, the player advanced to the semi-finals when his old rival Andy Murray announced his retirement. Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic singles final when she broke Iga Swiatek’s 25-match winning streak in Paris on a dramatic day at Roland Garros. Following his defeat, defending men’s champion Alexander Zverev took a scathing jab at the jam-packed Games schedule.
Djokovic, who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in the quarterfinals, said he was “hoping for the best” after suffering further damage to his injured right knee, which had required surgery in June.
The 37-year-old slipped on Court Philippe Chatrier’s baseline and required on-court care as well as a painkiller.
After trailing 0–4 and then 2–5 in the first set, he rallied to win the tie-break by saving three set points in the ninth game.
On Friday, the Serb will play Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the final four.
“The condition of the knee worries me. Let’s see after I go check it out with the medical staff,” Djokovic remarked.
Tomorrow, I have a show at 7:00 p.m., so I have a little extra time. However, I’m hoping that I can be hopeful and prepared. I must be.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion, who has only earned a bronze in Beijing in 2008, is still chasing his first Olympic gold medal.
He has advanced to his fourth semifinal at the Olympics.
The world no. 16 player Musetti upset Zverev 7-5, 7-5 to become the first Italian to advance to the semifinals since tennis returned to the Olympics in Seoul 1988.
Zverev, who played his quarterfinal less than a day after his last-16 match, called the schedule “a disgrace” and acknowledged that illness played a part in his loss.
Returning to Roland Garros, where he captured his first French Open title in June, Alcaraz made history by being the youngest Olympic semifinalist since Djokovic in 2008.
After overcoming a break down in the second set and saving a set point in the tie-break, the second seed defeated Tommy Paul of the United States, who was ranked 13th, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).
“It’s all about the fight,” declared 21-year-old Alcaraz, who was competing the day after he and Rafael Nadal lost a devastating doubles match in what was likely the veteran’s last Roland Garros match.
Felix Auger-Aliassime, the sixth-seeded player who defeated two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3, will next take on Alcaraz.
Murray’s career ended in the men’s doubles quarterfinals, losing 6-2, 6-4 to American duo Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. Murray was partnered with Dan Evans.
Murray, 37, a three-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one, had previously declared that the Olympics would be his final competition.
‘Proud’ Murray
“I’m proud of my career, my achievements and what I put into the sport,” Murray said.
“It was obviously emotional because it was my final competitive match. But right now, I’m genuinely happy. I’m pleased with how it turned out.”
After defeating world No. 1 Swiatek 6-2, 7-5, Zheng, who is ranked seventh, will take on Donna Vekic in Saturday’s gold medal match.
Vekic of Croatia easily defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 6-4, 6-0.
“If you ask me to play another three hours for my country, I would,” Zheng declared after qualifying for the semifinals with two consecutive three-hour matches.
The formidable 21-year-old Australian Open finalist hit Swiatek, 23, off the court despite the fact that she had defeated Zheng in each of their six prior meetings. Swiatek is a four-time French Open champion at Roland Garros.
Zheng has surpassed Li Na, who placed fourth in the 2008 Beijing women’s singles competition, to become the first Chinese man or woman to compete for the gold medal in an Olympic singles match.
Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won the women’s doubles title in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, China’s only gold medal in tennis.
