PARIS — Novak Djokovic reached the Olympic singles quarterfinals for a record fourth time by beating Germany’s Dominic Koepfer 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Serbian star looked in the mood to go much deeper in the tournament.
For all his 24 Grand Slam titles and countless other accolades, the Olympics have never been especially kind to the 37-year-old for whom a bronze medal remains his only souvenir.
The 2024 Games represent most likely his last opportunity to fill the only unoccupied space in his bulging trophy case and so far everything is going entirely to plan at Roland Garros as he has yet to drop a set in three rounds.
If he beats Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round he will be in his fourth Olympic singles semifinal, although the only time that led to a medal was at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Second-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and No. 9 Tommy Paul of the United States will meet in the quarterfinals after Alcaraz rolled over Russia’s Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-2.
Paul ended French hopes of a medal by beating Corentin Moutet 7-6 (6), 6-3, but fellow American Taylor Fritz went down 7-5, 6-4 to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.
No. 8 seed Tsitsipas, who beat Argentina’s Sebastian Baez on Wednesday, presents a formidable obstacle having led Djokovic by two sets to love in the 2021 French Open final only to eventually succumb in five.
“I don’t expect anything less than a big fight and a tight match,” Djokovic said of their Thursday clash. “The goal is to get to the finals and have a battle for that gold.”
World No. 69 Moutet, who benefited from the withdrawal of Germany’s Jan Lennard Struff due to injury on Tuesday, could not cope with Paul’s strong display of serving and precision at the net on the red clay.
Paul broke Moutet’s serve twice in the opening set but the Frenchman managed to fight back, saving a set point at 5-4 with a breathtaking passing shot. However, Paul stepped up his game to claim the tiebreak.
Paul grabbed a lead quickly in the second as Moutet chained together unforced errors. The crowd favorite battled gamely but after saving six match points he sent the ball long, putting Paul into the last eight.
“I really believed in myself until the last point. It’s never over. I was pretty close to breaking in the last game, so I really believed in it,” said Moutet, who dropped out of this month’s Wimbledon due to injury. “I knew that if I lost today, we wouldn’t have any chance to take a medal but it was a big motivation as well.”
Paul made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where he fell in the first round of the singles.
All four women’s singles quarterfinals were scheduled for the fifth day of the Paris Games on Wednesday. The first produced another shock in the women’s draw as Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat Czech Wimbledon champion and No. 9 seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-2.
Later, top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland was in action against American Danielle Collins.
After the emotions and hyperbole of Djokovic’s previous round against his clay-court nemesis Rafael Nadal, the atmosphere on a muggy Court Philippe Chatrier was sedate as he comfortably dispatched 30-year-old Koepfer after some initial trouble.
Djokovic earned an early service break with an exquisite drop shot but handed back the advantage immediately.
Koepfer looked confident after four wins across singles and doubles so far in Paris but he undid all his good work at 5-6 down when a bungled drop shot attempt and an errant backhand handed Djokovic the set.
The German needed medical treatment early in the second set and his resistance quickly faded as Djokovic recorded his 16th career singles win at the Olympics — the most by any player since tennis returned to the Games in 1988.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
