Novak Djokovic’s bid for a calendar-year sweep of all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments plus a gold medal in Tokyo came to a stunning end on Friday as he fell apart in the semifinals of the Olympic singles tournament.
Inside a sweltering Ariake Coliseum, Djokovic lost 6-1, 3-6, 1-6 to world No. 5 Alexander Zverev of Germany, who chalked up one of the most impressive victories of his career. After the final point, Zverev wept openly on the court while Djokovic was applauded off by a couple dozen Serbian athletes dotting the empty stands.
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Zverev will now face Karen Khachanov of Russia in Sunday’s final. Djokovic’s primary focus will now turn to next month’s U.S. Open, where he will try to complete the first men’s Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969—but not before playing for the bronze medal here and finishing off the mixed doubles tournament.
The only player ever to manage a Golden Slam in the Open Era then remains Steffi Graf, who pulled it off during her relentless 1988 season.
The galling part for Djokovic is that he was already most of the way there. He had rattled off dominant victories at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon to bring his tally of major titles to 20, tying Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
And when he arrived in Japan, he kicked off this tournament like a bullet train. He tore through a weakened field with such ease that he could ever afford to enter the mixed doubles draw as well. (He and his partner Nina Stojanovic were due to play their semi final on Friday evening.)
But the Olympics was always going to prove his trickiest hurdle. Djokovic knows the Grand Slams like his backhand. And even when he gets in trouble there, his unparalleled stamina allows him to claw back into five-set matches and grind opponents to dust—just as he did from two sets down in this year’s French Open final against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Olympics’ best-of-three format lends itself to more weirdness—Djokovic learned that five years ago in Rio, where he lost in the first round. Things were only made more difficult by the Jurassic weather conditions here. In fact, the heat and humidity inside the Ariake Coliseum were all anyone was talking about this week.
“I wanted to change my skin because I was sweating like I never did before,” world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev said before he was bounced from the tournament.
As the loudest voice here, Djokovic took it upon himself to ask officials to push the start time of sessions back to 3 p.m. from 11 a.m. The shift has helped a little, though players are still coming off the court looking like they’ve strolled through a car wash.
“I’ve played tennis now professionally for 20 years,” Djokovic said, “and I’ve never faced these kind of conditions in my entire life on a consecutive daily basis.”
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