Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz advance to Olympic quarters - ESPN

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).

«The goal,» Djokovic said, «is to break that barrier of the semifinals.»

Tennis matches are being played at Roland Garros, the facility that hosts the French Open, which Djokovic has won three times.

Next up for Djokovic will be a familiar foe in a familiar setting: On Thursday, Djokovic meets Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece for a spot in the final four. It's a rematch of the 2021 French Open final, when Tsitsipas took the first two sets before