A knee ailment may prevent Novak Djokovic from winning an Olympic gold medal, but he will have to wait anxiously to find out.
On Thursday, the player advanced to the semi-finals after his old adversary Andy Murray announced his retirement.
Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic singles final when she broke Iga Swiatek’s 25-match winning streak in Paris on a dramatic day at Roland Garros.
Following his defeat, defending men’s champion Alexander Zverev took a scathing jab at the jam-packed Games program.
After worsening his ailing right knee, which had undergone surgery in June, after his 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, Djokovic expressed his “hope for the best.”
The 37-year-old slipped on Court Philippe Chatrier’s baseline and required on-court care as well as a painkiller.
After trailing 0–4 and then 2–5 in the first set, he rallied to win the tie-break by saving three set points in the ninth game.