Tokyo 2020 - Novak Djokovic brushes Jan-Lennard Struff aside to keep Olympic and Golden Slam dream alive
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Updated 26/07/2021 at 14:47 GMT
Novak Djokovic has already won three Grand Slams this year and is aiming to become the first man in history to win all four tennis majors and an Olympic gold in the same year.
Novak Djokovic of Team Serbia celebrates after match point during his Men's Singles Second Round match against Jan-Lennard Struff of Team Germany on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Image credit: Getty Images
Novak Djokovic cruised through to the round-of-16 at the Tokyo Olympics with a straight-sets victory over Jan-Lennard Struff.
Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite to win his first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, with two-time defending champion Andy Murray out through injury and neither Roger Federer nor Rafa Nadal making the trip to Japan.
The Serbian made easy work of his second-round match against Struff, easing to a 6-4 6-3 win with minimal fuss.
Djokovic will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina as he continues his hunt for a new tennis record of winning all four men's Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. He already has the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles to his name in 2021.
One factor potentially standing between Djokovic and gold is the weather.
With temperatures reaching 33°C at times, Djokovic cited the stifling conditions to argue that matches should be moved to cooler evening times.
"I don’t understand why they don’t start matches at, say, 3pm," he said. "We still have seven hours to play. They have lights on all the courts.
"You feel you have weights on your shoulders because there's so much heat and humidity and stagnated air.
You don't feel yourself, you feel slow with your legs. It's not the first time we get to experience tough conditions. I spoke to a couple of guys in the locker room and all of them said this is the toughest that they have experienced day to day.
"I don't really get why ITF [the International Tennis Federation] doesn't want to move the matches."
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Clinical Osaka cruises into last 16 of Olympics
Elsewhere in the tennis, home favourite Naomi Osaka cruised through the second round with a 6-3 6-2 win over Viktorija Goluvic.
World number two Daniil Medvedev is also safely through after an easy 6-2 6-1 win over India’s Sumit Nagal.
The Indian was some 158 places below Medvedev in the world rankings and the gap showed with the Russian dominating exchanges and breaking Nagal’s serve five times over two sets.
Medvedev was never required to get out of second gear and produced just 12 unforced errors compared to the 31 his opponent racked up.
After such cruising through the third round, Medvedev will face a much tougher challenge in the last in the form of 15th seed Fabio Fognini.
Alexander Zverev made short work of Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan in his second round match.
The German set the tone for the match by breaking Galan in the first game and dominated from there to claim a 6-2 6-2 victory in just an hour and eleven minutes.
Zverev dropped just two games in the first set, which lasted just 39 minutes, and was equally impressive in the second.
Galan struggled to push Zverev, who hit 12 aces in the game, and the number four seed will face Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili next.
In the women’s draw Croatia's Donna Vekic fought back to beat Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, while Poland's Iga Swiatek bowed out to Spain's Paula Badosa.
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