Djokovic played the second semifinal of the Paris Olympics and beat Lorenzo Musetti
Despite there was concern about his knee condition, Novak Djokovic played the second semifinal of the Paris Olympics and beat Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-0 score4-6-2 on the court Philippe Chatrier.
The former world number 1 struggled especially in the first set, but a couple of gifts from the Italian in the tenth game allowed the Serbian to gain a decisive lead. The 24-time Grand Slam champion has leveraged his greater experience than the Italian and will play his first gold medal final at the Olympics.
Nole had always been defeated in the Olympic semi-finals before yesterday. In Beijing 2008 he was beaten by his eternal rival Rafael Nadal, in London 2012 he was defeated by Andy Murray and in Tokyo 2021 he was beaten by Alexander Zverev. The 37-year-old from Belgrade will not start as a favourite against Carlos Alcaraz, who is in great form and beat him in the Wimbledon Championships final a short time ago. The Spanish champion plays very well on this surface, he is much younger than Djokovic and has shown a very high level in the first semi-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Novak will need to express his best tennis if he wants to win the gold medal on Sunday and hope in a not-so-brilliant day of the Spaniard. The final for the gold medal will be played on Sunday, August 4th, while this afternoon there will be the match for the bronze medal between Musetti and Aliassime.
Musetti praises Nole Djokovic
Due to the poor physical condition of former World No.1 Novak Djokovic, many thought that Lorenzo Musetti could get the feat on his favorite surface. During the press conference, the Italian ace reflected on his performance against Nole in Paris: “It’s true that on his forehand, he is always waiting for the right moment to change direction and try a winning shot. After that we can say what we want from Djokovic but his return of serve remains an incredible shot, it is the most impressive thing. The way it manages to send services where 90% of players can’t even do it or at least put the server in a good position, that’s what makes the difference.
Starting over again despite a good service is the most difficult thing for me. In the background game I didn’t feel late, on the contrary I felt good, I knew what I had to do. There were some unfortunate episodes, especially at the end of the first set when he broke me by 40-0 in my favor. A difficult situation was created: I was under pressure throughout the match and he managed to manage everything better than me.”
Djokovic vs. Alcaraz again
The 24-time Grand Slam champion did not express his best tennis this week, but experience allows him to make a difference in decisive moments. “I have been waiting for this for almost 20 years,” Nole Djokovic admitted. “I’ve played four Olympic Games, this is my fifth and ‘’ve never passed the semi-finals. I lost three semi-finals in my first four Olympic Games. I managed to overcome this big hurdle. I must be honest and say that I was thinking about all the semi-finals that I lost.
Nole is ready to face Carlitos: “That’s going to be the biggest challenge that I can have at the moment, playing him on this court. He won Roland-Garros a month ago on this court. Although we played once [here], I beat him in the semis, I lost to him in the final of Wimbledon quite comfortably. Different surface… I feel like I’m playing and moving better than I did at Wimbledon, so hopefully I’ll come out and play my best tennis and in a way, I have nothing to lose as I’ve already secured a medal, so I’m going to go for it.
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A first final of the Olympics for me [so] I’m thrilled. Obviously I want to win the gold, in a few days’ time. I’m going to do my best to do that, but already this is a huge result for me under these circumstances and I was very nervous today, and before the match I lost three out of four semi-finals of the Olympic Games that I’ve played in my career, so I really wanted to get through this hurdle.”
In the bronze medal final, Lorenzo Musetti will be slightly favored over Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian ace suffers from the Italian’s style of play, rich in variations and changes of rhythm. Musetti will try to put Aliassime in areas that are not favorable to him, hoping for a failed performance of the Canadian.