Novak Djokovic's run for an elusive Olympic gold continues in Paris 2024.
Novak Djokovic kept his campaign for an elusive Olympic gold going after downing Dominik Koepfer, 7-5, 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals of men's tennis in Paris 2024 at the Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday, July 31.
Djokovic, fresh from adding another win – his 31st – in the 60th chapter of his storied rivalry with Rafael Nadal, took down Koepfer in one hour and 37 minutes to move closer to his aim.
The 24-time Grand Slam champ, whose best finish in the Games was in Beijing in 2008 when he won the bronze, thus improved his head-to-head with Koepfer to 2-0 after also beating the German in the Rome Masters four years ago.
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He thus set up a Last Eight clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas, whom he beat in all five of their meetings on clay, including two epic five-set battles in Roland Garros - in the semifinals in 2020 and in the finals in 2021. Djokovic leads 11-2 in their head-to-head.
While Koepfer pushed the Serb to a three-setter in their first meeting – also on the red dirt – before succumbing 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, he could not do it again this time despite making it a close contest in the opening set after recovering an early break.
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World No. 2 Djokovic, who opened the match with a 3-1 advantage after breaking Koepfer in his second service game, could not consolidate as the 70th-ranked Koepfer quickly regained his footing, converting his break point on a forced error on a lob.
But Djokovic stepped it up when it mattered, breaking Koepfer in the 13th game on his foe's back-to-back unforced errors to wrap up the set.
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It was fairly straightforward in the second, with Djokovic ensuring that there will be no more letups, zooming to a 3-0 lead on another early break which he never relinquished.
Djokovic utilized his net skills to outplay Koepfer, winning 13 of the 14 times he went forward.
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While he had the same number of winners as his foe at 23, Djokovic, three times a winner in the Parisian major, had a cleaner game with lesser unforced errors, 15 to 23. He also forced 20 mistakes from his opponent.
Djokovic converted three of his four break points.