Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz close in on Olympics showdown

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz shrugged off crushing humidity on Wednesday to stay on course for a Paris Olympics gold medal showdown as Zheng Qinwen ended the career of former world number one Angelique Kerber.

Djokovic, seeking a first Olympic title at Roland Garros to add to his record-breaking collection, defeated German left-hander Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-3, becoming the first man to reach four singles quarter-finals at the Games.

Carlos Alcaraz brushed aside Roman Safiullin, the Russian playing in Paris as a neutral, 6-4, 6-2 to close in on another showdown with Novak Djokovic.

In the women’s singles, Zheng defeated Kerber 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) to become only the second Chinese player to reach an Olympic singles semi-final.

The 37-year-old Djokovic has only ever collected a bronze at the Olympics, at Beijing 16 years ago, but he was rarely troubled by his 70th-ranked opponent.

“I’m soaking wet, honestly,” said Djokovic, who has won three of his 24 Grand Slam crowns on Paris’s famous red clay.

“It’s a very, very humid day as it was yesterday. But you have to accept and embrace the conditions and try to make the best out of it.”

Djokovic, who had breezed past old rival Rafael Nadal in the second round, goes on to face 11th-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Djokovic boasts an 11-2 head-to-head record over Tsitsipas, including a victory from two sets down in the 2021 French Open final.

“I’ve erased it,” said Tsitsipas when asked to recall that heartbreaking defeat.

“I can see he’s motivated for this Olympics but I want to get out on the court and show that I’m a worthy player on the clay courts.”

Despite his confidence, Tsitsipas has not defeated Novak Djokovic for almost five years, with the world number two having claimed the last 10 meetings while French Open and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz has also yet to drop a set in the Paris Olympics and breezed past 66th-ranked Safiullin in 90 minutes.

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Alcaraz broke serve four times and wrapped up victory with his fifth ace of the contest.

“I am really happy with the way I managed everything during the match. The conditions were really tough with the heat and it was really humid,” said Alcaraz.

Up next for Alcaraz is Tommy Paul, the American he defeated in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Paul made the last eight by seeing off Corentin Moutet, whose defeat ended all French interest in the five Olympic tennis events.

Australian Open runner-up Zheng became the first Chinese woman since Li Na in 2008 to reach the singles semi-finals.

Her three-hour victory, in which she unleashed 64 winners, sent 36-year-old former world number one Kerber, a silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Games, into retirement.

“What can I say? I gave everything,” said Kerber, who has slumped to 212 in the world rankings. “I have loved playing tennis. Now I can leave in peace.”

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova is the first Slovakian player to make the Olympics semi-finals since Miloslav Mecir won the men’s singles title at Seoul in 1988.

The 67th-ranked Schmiedlova stunned Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets.

Later Wednesday, Iga Swiatek, the four-time French Open champion, can claim a 25th successive win at Roland Garros by making the semi-finals of the Olympics for the first time when she takes on Danielle Collins of the United States.

In the remaining women’s quarter-final Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk faces Wimbledon semi-finalist Donna Vekic of Croatia.

Defending men’s champion Alexander Zverev, the third-seeded German, plays Australia’s Alexei Popyrin while fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, also competing as a neutral, faces Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Nadal, chasing a third Olympic gold medal, plays for the fifth successive day as he and Alcaraz eye a place in the men’s doubles semi-finals.

The Spaniards face a tricky last-eight tie against fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States.

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