Everything had started so well for Novak Djokovic. Winner of the Australian Open, then the Roland Garros and Wimbledon tournaments, the Serbian had the opportunity to become the first man to achieve, in tennis, the Golden Grand Slam – the four major tournaments and the Olympics – , a performance only performed by the German Steffi Graff until then, in 1988.
“I’m going there with full confidence and motivated to represent Serbia in the best possible way, he said before the start of the Olympic tournament. I aspire to a medal in Tokyo, I hope for gold, before thinking of the US Open. “
It was without counting on Alexander Zverev. Friday, July 30, the German, who conceded the first set, quickly remobilized to win the next two (1-6, 6-3, 6-1) and offer himself a first Olympic final, against Karen Khachanov , winner of Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta (6-3, 6-3), in the other semi-final.
A gold medal still possible in mixed doubles
Until then, the world number one had yet achieved a perfect tournament: not a set lost in four games played, leaving on the court an impression of power. He even swept Zverev in the first set, before breaking him in the second.
But the German immediately resumed his opponent’s service, before breaking him on his next face-off and winning the second set in stride. Djokovic then collapsed in the final set, where Zverev made two consecutive breaks, to quickly lead 4-0, before concluding on his second match point.
The Serbian will therefore have to be satisfied, at best, with a bronze medal, the same metal as the one he obtained in Beijing, in 2008, before two poor performances at the Olympic Games in London (fourth) and Rio (eliminated) in the first round). He is due to face Pablo Carreno Busta on Saturday at 8 a.m.
He can still, however, clinch a gold medal in mixed doubles. With his compatriot Nina Stojanovic, he faces the Russians Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev in the semi-finals.