PARIS — Novak Djokovic defeated Italian player Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 on Friday night to get it to the Summer Olympics singles final, showing that his surgically repaired knee did not seem to be impeding him in the slightest.
On Sunday, Djokovic will compete against Carlos Alcaraz for the gold. The Wimbledon final from three weeks ago is being rematched.
In an Olympic men’s singles final, Spain’s Alcaraz, 21, is the youngest player, while Serbia’s Djokovic, 37, is the oldest.
With a 0-3 record at that point in the Games, Djokovic faced Andy Murray in London, Rafael Nadal in Beijing, and Alexander Zverev in Tokyo as his opponents in the semifinal match. That “hurdle” was brought up several times by Djokovic the other day.
Djokovic’s knee, which he reported as experiencing “sharp pain” while defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals on Thursday, was also a source of concern going into Friday night. Early in June, Djokovic injured his knee meniscus while competing in the French Open. He underwent surgery in Paris.
However, Djokovic remained unfazed by things like the chair umpire criticizing him twice for timing infractions and then issuing a warning for audible profanity.
After it was over, Djokovic lay on his back and spent a short while lying there on the court with his legs spread wide.