The semifinal draw for the men’s tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was settled just minutes ago with Novak Djokovic‘s victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-3, 7-6), a match that had moments of great parity, even a moment of concern with the Serbian’s knee, who was forced to take medication midway through the second set to avoid a relapse. In the end, these became mere anecdotes in a battle that always had a clear candidate to jump to the semifinals. It was the Serbian who did so, returning to compete for medals in the most important sporting event of the calendar.
No matter how many quarterfinals there have been at the Olympic Games, more than one had doubts that this would not be the most exciting match of the draw, a duel where most placed Djokovic as the main and only favorite. Was there little faith in Tsitsipas’ chances? Probably, but that is the result of looking at the last months of competition of the Greek, who has been far from his highest competitive level and even further from the important rounds. Do you remember the last major victory of the Athenian? That one that stays in the media for days? Since winning the title in Monte Carlo, nothing. This is what Stefanos faced today, his present and that of his opponent.
Because Novak, at 37 years old, can do nothing but think about the present. And it pointed to that forbidden dream that still eludes him, the Olympic gold medal. His path to this round had been immaculate, as was the first set against the Greek, where adjusting some shots at critical moments was enough to put it at 6-3 without breaking a sweat, relying on that usual solidity and an innate determination to seize the opportunities that arise. With one set in the bag, the odds closed for vacations thinking that nothing more would happen at the Philippe Chatrier. It was then that, suddenly and completely unexpectedly, the Serbian injured his knee and began to limp. His face on the bench was telling us that there was still some fight left.
Meanwhile, Tsitsipas was already navigating with a break from the start, although that break would soon multiply to show a 4-0 score that activated all alarms in the Balkan bench. His coaches did not make a single grimace, while his wife preferred to cover herself with the flag of the country to not reveal any cards. There was a certain fear in the air, the worry that the same scenario would repeat itself as we saw on this same court 50 days ago, where Nole ended up injuring his meniscus and, unfortunately, had no chance to compete in the quarterfinals against Ruud. Far from thinking that there is a curse at the Chatrier, the reality pointed to two basic questions: Would a pill be enough for Novak to compete until the end? And second and more importantly: To what extent was it worth the risk considering that there are four months of the season left?
SCARE AND TO SEMIFINALS
What was clear was that Djokovic was not going to give up, no matter what. However, the score was indicating 4-1 for Tsitsipas. Then a 5-2. And then? Well then, already with the effect of the pill he had taken at the start of the set, Novak began to build his own comeback, one of many he has given us in his career. Thus we reached 5-5, with the feeling that the Greek’s ship had set sail without him and that the jackal from Belgrade was at his most ravenous point.
What came next had just the right amount of excitement, just the right amount of parity, and just the right amount of surprise. Yes, Stefanos was ahead several times, setting the tone of the match, but the Greek still struggles mentally to manage those key moments. He may do well sometimes, but there will be many more times when he sinks. The world number 2 pulled through the tiebreak and with it pocketed the ticket to the semifinals, where he will face Lorenzo Musetti. For the fourth time in his career, the Belgrade native will fight for a medal at the Olympic Games. He did it at 21 years old, he did it at 25 years old, he did it at 33 years old, and he will do it again at 37. An extraordinary feat.