Djokovic and Alcaraz stay on course
The Serb breezes into the quarterfinals to set up a clash with Tsitsipas; Spaniard also makes the last eight; Swiatek enters the semifinals
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz overcame crushing humidity on Wednesday to stay on course for an Olympic final showdown as Iga Swiatek shrugged off a blow to the chest to reach the semifinals.
Djokovic, seeking a first Olympic title to add to his recordbreaking collection, defeated German lefthander Dominik Koepfer 75, 63, becoming the first man to reach four singles quarterfinals at the Games.
The 37yearold Djokovic has only ever collected a bronze at the Olympics, at Beijing 16 years ago, but he was rarely troubled by his 70thranked 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 11thranked Stefanos Tsitsipas, who got past Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 75, 61.
Alcaraz brushed aside Roman Safiullin, the Russian playing in Paris as a neutral, 64, 62.
Up next for Alcaraz is Tommy Paul, the American he defeated in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Medvedev ousted
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, also appearing as a neutral and seeded to face Alcaraz in the semifinals, was defeated 63, 76(5) by Felix AugerAliassime.
In women’s singles, World No.1 Swiatek progressed when Danielle Collins retired injured in the final set.
She will face China’s Zheng Qinwen, who ended the career of former World No. 1 and threetime Major winner Angelique Kerber.
Fourtime French Open winner Swiatek racked up her 25th successive win on the clay courts of Paris but only after being poleaxed by a fierce backhand from Collins in the first game of the deciding set.
Swiatek next faces Australian Open runnerup Zheng, who became the first Chinese woman since Li Na in 2008 to reach the semifinals with a 67(4), 64, 76(6) win over Kerber.
Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova became the first Slovakian player to make the semifinals since Miloslav Mecir won the men’s title at Seoul in 1988.
The 67thranked Schmiedlova stunned Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 64, 62
Nadal-Alcaraz duo exits
Meanwhile in doubles, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz were dumped out by Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram. The Spanish dream team lost 62, 64 to the US fourth seeds, who progressed to the semifinals.