Djokovic Dominates Nishikori At Tokyo Olympics, Meets Zverev In SF; Medvedev Out

by Staff | July 29th, 2021, 11:28 am
  • 13 Comments

Novak Djokovic kept his foot on the gas at the Tokyo Olympics rolling past Kei Nishikori in ruthless fashion 6-2, 6-0.

The Serb was in full domination mode losing just three points on first serve en route to his 22nd straight win and 16th consecutively over Nishikori.

“Matches are not getting easier, but my level of tennis is getting better and better,” said Djokovic.


“I’ve done that many, many times in my career. I know that I’m kind of player that the further the tournament goes, the better I’m feeling on the court. That’s the case here, my best performance of the tournament tonight against the very good opponent.

“Kei, I know his game very well. Him playing in Japan, this court where he had lots of success, I knew that he’s going to play very quick and he’s not gonna give me a lot of time so I had to be very alert. And I feel I had an answer for everything he had.”

Djokovic is now just two wins from a first gold medal. It’s the third time he’s made the Olympic semifinals.

Djokovic will next face the only other guy who hasn’t dropped a set this week in Alexander Zverev. The German also had an easy day blowing out Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-1 in 66 minutes.

Zverev, who is making his Olympic debut, cracked 11 aces to just one double fault, finishing with 26 winners and just 8 unforced errors.

Djokovic leads Zverev 6-2 in their series including two wins in Australia this year. Tomorrow, Djokovic will also play in the mixed doubles semifinals.

In the bottom half, No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev was bounced by Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 7-6(5). Medvedev, who went near 2.5 hours yesterday in the heat, was listless early. But after leaving the court after the first, he return and jumped out to a 4-2 lead, however the Spaniard would clay back and take his third career Top 5 win in a breaker.

“This was one of the best matches of my career,” said Carreno Busta. “Daniil is a top player, he is No. 2 in the world and it’s very difficult to play against him. He plays with very high intensity, he plays at a pace that is very difficult to match, but today I managed it.

“I came here for a medal. There are four of us left and there are only three medals so I need one more win to get it. At the moment things are going very well, the plan is going very well. I won’t relax and will continue with this intensity.”

Karen Khachanov hung on to deny Ugo Humbert 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 to win his 8th match in his last 9.

“Obviously I’m really happy to first still have another match, another opportunity to keep fighting for the medals,” Khachanov said. “And I’m enjoying playing here at the Olympics for our country. It’s the first Olympics for me and for all the guys – Daniil, Andrey and Aslan. We all came here, tried to prepare well.”

Carreno Busta beat Khachanov in Monte Carlo, his third win in five tries against the Russian.

FRIDAY TOKYO OLYMPICS SCHEDULE
Centre Court – starting at 15:00
MS SF (12) KHACHANOV Karen (ROC) vs (6) CARRENO BUSTA Pablo (ESP)
MS SF (1) DJOKOVIC Novak (SRB) vs(4) ZVEREV Alexander (GER)
MD F (1) MEKTIC / PAVIC (CRO) vs CILIC / DODIG (CRO)


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13 Comments for Djokovic Dominates Nishikori At Tokyo Olympics, Meets Zverev In SF; Medvedev Out

Tennis Vagabond Says:

Unstoppable.

There are not enough superlatives left to describe what Novak is doing.


chrisford1 Says:

Sasha is playing well, too.
And Khachanov and PBA have victories over Novak in the past.
Obviously, nothing guaranteed, though it feels like destiny and Novak is playing fantastic(fingers crossed)

Over on the mixed doubles side, chance to not just medal but for Djokovic to have his 1st meaningful doubles title. (Past Novak doubles wins in Davis Cup, Laver Cup, ATP Cup play did not lead to a title, were part of team titles…I think….)
Fun saga so far for Novak and Nina Stojanović. Who knows, they might medal even get gold. On paper, the Russians and the Aussie team are better, but sometimes luck seems to roll a players way, you know…


Dave Says:

This is the gold medal match for Djokovic. The one Khachanov win was when Djokovic played that long epic match against Federer and was running on fumes in the final. He won’t need to worry about that if he beats Zverev because there is a day of rest before the finals. And Djokovic won’t be hitting another line judge again, so Carreno Busta won’t be winning against a peaking Djokovic. Zverev is the one with a real shot at it. He will need to serve first serves on second serves to give Djokovic no rhythm. The conditions aren’t playing very fast and they are the evening match. So that will favor Djokovic, who’s return has been very good.


Van Persie Says:

Yep, today’s match is crucial for Nole


Wog Boy Says:

If something is not meant to be it is not meant to be.
Congratulations Zverev.


Giles Says:

Today is a good day although not for faker fans.
ROFL. He thought he was Tarzan and Mohammed Ali rolled into one! Schmuk!
🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🤠🤠🤠
Poor poor faker! Hahahahahahaha


Giles Says:

AND he got a bread stick as well. Today gets better and better! Lol


Sylvestre Says:

Giles, jebo ti faker mater.
I guess you can translate. There is no way one can have civilized discussion with you.


Truth Says:

People act like this is everything. Fedal fans are desperate because they think he should be shamed for destroying the Fedal narrative. Olympic tennis is more about who breathes better in the stifling humidity & heat or who bashes the serve harder. It’s not about tactics. Zverev wasn’t facing tough final matches all year. I doubt that he’d win all Slams or deal with the media and stupid Fedal fans for 15 years. Does anyone remember Olympic gold medalists more than the GOAT Djoko? Would you want all Masters and 5 set Slams and defeat the top Slam winners regularly? Do you want Olympics and win no more, like Murray did?


Giles Says:

^^^^ Hahahaha. If you say so!
I’m still a happy happy bunny. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😝😝😝😝😝😝😝


Truth Says:

Djoko was mentally drained after humiliated Fedal fan boys & winning a lot, but Zverev took advantage because he did nothing for 3 years in Slams.
The motivation that sent Djoko to play Olympics is the same one that brought him to 20 slams in the first place. If he kept asking himself “why can’t I win everything?”, he might have been another Agassi or Wilander. Fedalray fans shouldn’t talk about superiority and shaming on Djoko when their idols failed to beat the top players and dominate tennis with 19 Slams in 9 years (even without 6 completed Slams).
Fedal were completely thrashed on their fave Slam courts but didn’t that many matches before that.
After Djoko won a lot of Slams and got injured in 2016, Murray tried to play every event & be better than Djoko but became physically crushed forever. Fedal didn’t play each other that much, and never in the US Open. Fed will never beat Nadal at the French.


Giles Says:

^^^ Yeah yeah yeah.
Am still smiling! 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

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