The 2024 Paris Olympics continues at Roland Garros ahead of the tournament’s quarter-final stage with Novak Djokovic up against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 Olympic Games
Paris Olympics
Roland Garros
Selected quarter-final match – 1 August
Novak Djokovic 31/100 | Stefanos Tsitsipas 47/20
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic looks hyper-focused this week. The 24-time Grand Slam champion is yet to lose a set in Paris as he looks to gain the one prize that has thus far eluded him: Olympic gold (he won bronze at Beijing back in 2008).
His decision to skip the upcoming Montreal Masters tells you everything you need to know about how seriously he is taking this week’s assignment.
The ultimate completionist, Djokovic will feel shortchanged if he doesn’t ultimately secure Olympic gold. His 3rd round win over Dominic Koepfer was really a distillation of Djokovic’s entire career.
He started the match slowly, adapting to the oppressive conditions before grinding down the German in a series of bruising rallies. He won the opening set 7-5 and would look far more assured in the second, winning a staggering 95% of his first-serve points in a dominant 2nd set display.
He ultimately hit 19 winners to 15 unforced errors in a pretty textbook victory for the Serbian.
This has obviously been a really testing year for the 37-year-old (he has yet to win a title all season). But he showed tremendous resolve to even compete at Wimbledon, undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus just weeks before the start of the event.
The fact that he even reached the final is a minor miracle. I found it quite distasteful how certain journalists appeared to mock Djokovic in the wake of his straight-sets defeat to Alcaraz.
Like him or loathe him, this is a man who is setting records that will possibly never be matched in the history of the game. In any event, his victory over Koepfer improved his 2024 clay-court record to 13-4 (he had to withdraw from his Roland Garros quarterfinal due to injury).
Djokovic appears to be moving more fluidly with each passing match and he is going to take some beating.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
The 27-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas has played considerably more clay-court tennis than his opponent this season, improving his 2024 clay stats to 22-5 with a straight-sets win against the bustling Sebastian Baez.
Tsitsipas was nowhere near his fluid best against the Argentine, only managing a 61% first-serve percentage throughout the entire match. He also served five double faults and he will need to tighten up as he goes up against the returning machine that is Djokovic.
However, Tsitsipas still managed to win an impressive 89% of the first-serve points he landed. Tsitsipas has really moved through the gears in this tournament, starting sluggishly against Bergs before back-to-back straight-sets wins over Evans and Baez.
But this is obviously going to be the defining moment of his entire Olympic campaign.
Tsitsipas has proven to be one of the most durable and consistent clay-court players over the past five years. The Greek has reached the quarterfinal stage or better in four of his last five French Open appearances (finishing runner-up in 2021).
He also delighted in the early stages of this year’s clay-court swing, winning a third Monte-Carlo title before a runner-up finish in Barcelona. He was soundly beaten by Alcaraz in the French Open quarterfinals, memorably clashing with the chair umpire over the Spaniard’s loud grunting.
And that’s the issue with the Greek: he often lets external factors filter into his on-court performance. He would already be a Grand Slam champion if he had the mental fortitude of a Casper Rudd. However, the Greek is going to need to overcome a considerable head-to-head disparity if he aims to reach this year’s semifinals.
The Verdict: Djokovic to win in three 26/10
Djokovic leads the head-to-head 11-2, claiming victory in their last ten consecutive contests. Yikes. Djokovic has never lost to Tsitsipas on clay, somehow overturning a two-set deficit to win the 2021 French Open final. I think that this three-set format should give the Greek a better shot.
He needs to get those first-serve stats close to 80% if he wishes to trouble the Serb. Djokovic came to the net with brilliant effect against Koepfer and I can see him employing similar tactics here. I expect a really tight match but the Serb should prevail in three.
