Djokovic faces Zverev, Khachanov-Carreno Busta in Tokyo 2020 semis
Novak Djokovic is through to the third Olympic men’s singles semi-final of his career after defeating Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-0 at Tokyo 2020.
The reigning Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion awaits Geerman No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev in Friday's semi-finals, while ROC's Karen Khachanov will face Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in the other final-four clash.
World No. 1 Djokovic, a bronze medallist at the Beijing Olympics and fourth-place finisher at London 2012, produced some stellar tennis late in the first set to accelerate past Rio 2016 bronze medallist Nishikori, claiming the last eight games to secure a quickfire victory in 70 minutes.
"Matches are not getting easier, but my level of tennis is getting better and better," said Djokovic, who has now tied Roger Federer's mark of 13 Olympic men's singles match wins.
"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."
Standing between Djokovic and his first Olympic final is Zverev, a 6-4 6-1 victor over France's Jeremy Chardy in an even quicker 66 minutes.
The German was confined to a single break in the opening set under the lights on Court 1 but raced through the second, Chardy providing some last-ditch resistance before falling on the fifth match point.
Earlier in the day, ROC's Khachanov became the first player to book his place in the semi-finals, the No. 12 seed posting a 7-6(4) 4-6 6-3 win over France's Ugo Humbert.
The Russian will face Carreno Busta in Friday's semi-finals after backing up yesterday's victory over Argentina's Diego Schwartzman with another three-set victory in the cooler late afternoon conditions at Ariake Tennis Park.
"Today was much better in terms of physical conditions," said the 25-year-old Olympic debutant. "Obviously it’s still humid and still hot, but nothing compared to other days. That was a big plus, I think for everyone.
"I felt well physically, I felt well mentally, I came here to fight for medals and I’m playing good tennis so far. I’m happy that I’m managing to find solutions to the problems as they appear – this is tennis. I’m enjoying so far, and I want to keep going like that."
ROC remain in contention for medals from three of the five Olympic tennis draws, with Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova through to the women's doubles bronze medal match, and mixed doubles duo Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev hoping to join Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semi-finals.
"Obviously I’m really happy to first still have another match, another opportunity to keep fighting for the medals," Khachanov added. "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 [Medvedev], Andrey [Rublev] and Aslan [Karatsev]. We all came here, tried to prepare well."
Hopes for an all-ROC semi-final were dashed out on Court 1, where Carreno Busta proved a match too far for No. 2 seed Medvedev, who fell to a 6-2 7-6(5) defeat a matter of minutes after Djokovic's victory.
The Spanish No. 6 seed was in scintillating form against a weary-looking Medvedev, who took a lengthy comfort break after the first set. The move looked to have helped as he broke for a 3-1 lead in the second, but Carreno Busta battled back, levelling up at 4-4 before coming out on top of a see-sawing tiebreak to keep Spanish hopes of a tennis medal alive.
"This was one of the best matches of my career," Carreno Busta declared. "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."