The Serb breezes into the quarterfinals to set up a clash with Tsitsipas; Alcaraz also makes the last eight; Wimbledon champion Krejcikova ousted but Swiatek keeps her campaign going with a victory over China’s Wang
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reached the Olympic singles quarterfinals for a record fourth time by beating Germany’s Dominic Koepfer 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday but looked in the mood to go much deeper in the tournament.
It was Djokovic’s 16th career singles win at the Olympics — the most by any player since tennis returned to the Games in 1988.
For all his 24 Grand Slam titles and countless other accolades, the Olympics has never been especially kind to the 37-year-old for whom a bronze medal remains his only souvenir.
If he beats Stefanos Tsitsipas, who got past Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 7-5, 6-1, in the next round, Djokovic will be in his fourth Olympic singles semifinal.
Later, second seed Carlos Alcaraz also reached the quarterfinals by breezing past Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-2.
There were mixed fortunes for American men on day five of the tournament as Tommy Paul ended French hopes of a medal by beating Corentin Moutet 7-6(5) 6-3 but Taylor Fritz could not join him, going down 7-5 6-4 to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.
In the women’s draw, Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat Czech Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-4 6-2.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz blazed into the quarterfinals of the doubles event, fighting off Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof to claim a 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-2 victory.
Women’s top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland stayed on course for gold though with a 6-3, 6-4 win against injury-hampered Chinese player Wang Xiyu to reach the quarterfinals.
Third seed Alexander Zverev of Germany was on track for a repeat of his Tokyo title with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Czech player Tomas Machac to reach the third round.
