Tokyo Olympics: Novak Djokovic beats Davidovich Fokina to reach quarterfinals

Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic moved one step closer to the Golden Slam and defeated training partner Alejandro Davidovich Fokin of Spain with a score of 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games.

Djokovic is aiming to become the first man to achieve a Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic gold in the same calendar year.

He has already won the Australian and French Opens and the Wimbledon this year. So now he needs the Tokyo Games title and the US Open trophy to complete the unique collection.

Djokovic will be in action again later in the day with Serbian partner Nina Stojanovic against Marcelo Melo and Luisa Stefani of Brazil in the opening round of the mixed doubles competition.

Djokovic’s quarterfinal opponent in singles will be Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who reached his 3rd straight Olympic quarterfinal by beating Ilya Ivashka of Belarus.

Nishikori, who won the bronze medal at the Rio Games in 2016, is the host country’s last remaining hope for a singles medal after women’s number two Naomi Osaka lost in a third round upset on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, French Open finalists Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova crashed out, while world number two Daniil Medvedev struggled to breathe during his 6-2 3-6 6-2 third round win over Italian Fabio Fognini.

Medvedev, competing for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team, was leading 5-2 in the first set when he requested a medical timeout.

“Even from the first set, I didn’t feel good enough with my breathing,” said the 25-year-old, who will next meet Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.

“That’s why I called the physio, I felt like my diaphragm was blocked.”