Novak Djokovic became the first player to make it to the semifinals in the Olympics four times after it sent off Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in Paris 2024.
Novak Djokovic, bothered by his right knee in the second set, still found the answer as he got past Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 7-6(3) to advance to his fourth Olympic semifinal in Paris 2024 on Friday, August 2 (Philippine time).
Djokovic thus became the first player, man or woman, to make it to the singles Last Four in the quadrennial multiport spectacle four times after also doing so in Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Tokyo (2020).
At 37 years and 74 days, Djokovic also became the oldest singles semifinalist since 1988.
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After a trouble-free first set where he broke early and went on to seal the opener, Djokovic saw himself trailing 0-4 in the second set as Tsitsipas conjured a double break.
The World No. 2 actually called for a medical timeout at 0-3 down and again after breaking back at 1-4.
The physio attended to Djokovic's right knee, which the Serb underwent surgery on after his sudden withdrawal prior to his quarterfinal match in Roland Garros last June.
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But Djokovic dug deep, saving three set points to bring back the match on serve at 4-5.
Neither player conceded their ensuing service games, forcing the tiebreak.
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Djokovic stepped up at the finish, swinging two winners to earn match point at 6-3 before forcing a backhand error from the Greek to complete the match that took a little more than two hours.
Djokovic upped his head-to-head with Tsitsipas to 12-2 after also scoring a repeat of his two previous Roland Garros victories over the Greek.
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Djokovic is set to collide with Lorenzo Musetti in the semis after the Italian unseated Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Alexander Zverev, 7-5, 7-5, in their own quarterfinal battle.