Novak Djokovic faces an anxious wait to determine if a knee injury will derail his Olympic gold medal dream, as he reached the semi-finals on Thursday amid dramatic events at Roland Garros. Meanwhile, his old rival Andy Murray has slipped into retirement, marking the end of an era in tennis.
On a day filled with highs and lows, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen ended Iga Swiatek’s 25-match unbeaten streak in Paris, becoming the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic singles final. Defending men’s champion Alexander Zverev was knocked out and expressed his frustration with the crammed Games schedule.
Djokovic, hoping for a smooth path to the final, aggravated his injured right knee during his 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals. The 37-year-old required on-court treatment and a painkiller after slipping on the baseline of Court Philippe Chatrier. Despite these challenges, he managed to recover from 0-4 and 2-5 deficits in the second set, saving three set points in the ninth game, and eventually winning the tie-break.
The Serb now faces Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti on Friday in the semi-finals. “I’m concerned about the state of the knee. I have to go and examine it with medical staff and then let’s see,” Djokovic said. “I’m playing at 7:00 pm tomorrow, which gives me slightly more time. But I’m hoping I can be ready and be optimistic. I have to be.”
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam title winner, is still seeking his first Olympic gold medal, having only managed a bronze in Beijing in 2008. He is through to his fourth Olympic semi-final.
Musetti stunned Zverev 7-5, 7-5, becoming the first Italian to reach the semi-finals since tennis returned to the Olympics at Seoul 1988. Zverev, partially attributing his defeat to illness, also criticized the schedule as “a disgrace” after playing his quarter-final less than a day after his last-16 match.
Carlos Alcaraz, returning to Roland Garros where he won his maiden French Open in June, became the youngest Olympic semi-finalist since Djokovic in 2008. The second seed defeated 13th-ranked Tommy Paul of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), recovering from a break down in the second set and saving a set point in the tie-break. “It’s all about the fight,” said Alcaraz, 21, who played the day after he and Rafael Nadal suffered a heartbreaking doubles loss in what was likely the veteran’s final appearance at Roland Garros.
Alcaraz will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals, after the Canadian beat sixth-seeded Casper Ruud, a two-time French Open runner-up, 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3.
In a significant development, Andy Murray’s illustrious career came to an end as he and Dan Evans lost to the American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-4 in the men’s doubles quarter-finals. The former world number one and three-time Grand Slam title winner, 37, had announced that the Olympics would be his last event. “I’m proud of my career, my achievements, and what I put into the sport,” said Murray. “Obviously, it was emotional because it’s the last time I will play a competitive match. But I am genuinely happy just now. I’m happy with how it finished.”
On the women’s side, seventh-ranked Zheng triumphed 6-2, 7-5 over world number one Swiatek, setting up a gold medal match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic, who breezed past Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-0. Zheng’s victory marks a historic moment as she becomes the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic singles gold medal match. “If you ask me to play another three hours for my country, I would,” said Zheng.
China’s only previous Olympic tennis gold came from Li Ting and Sun Tiantian in the women’s doubles at Athens in 2004. Zheng’s achievement not only breaks new ground for Chinese tennis but also brings fresh excitement to the ongoing Olympic tennis tournament.
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