Novak Djokovic needed a bit of time to assert himself Wednesday at the Paris Olympics before taking control with a five-game run for a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dominik Koepfer of Germany, reaching the Summer Games singles quarterfinals for the fourth time.
Carlos Alcaraz had less trouble joining Djokovic in the quarterfinals with his 6-4, 6-2 win over Roman Safiullin. But another top player on Alcaraz’s half of the men’s bracket, 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev — a Russian who, like everyone from his country, must compete under the label individual neutral athletes — exited with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
A gold medal is pretty much the only accomplishment of significance missing from the résumé of Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia who has won a men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles and spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone in the history of the computerized tennis rankings.
That is why Djokovic, who is the top-seeded man in Paris, has proclaimed success at these Olympics as his priority for the year. His one medal so far was a bronze in 2008 in Beijing, when he lost to rival Rafael Nadal in the semifinals; Djokovic also was beaten in the semifinals by the eventual champions at London in 2012 (Andy Murray) and at Tokyo three years ago (Alexander Zverev).
