Novak Djokovic's surgically repaired knee did not appear to slow him down a bit as he finally reached a Summer Olympics singles final for the first time, defeating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-4, 6-2 on Friday night.
Djokovic will play Carlos Alcaraz for the gold on Sunday. It is a rematch of the Wimbledon final three weeks ago.
Serbia's Djokovic, 37, is the oldest man in a men's singles final at the Olympics; Spain's Alcaraz, 21, is the youngest.
Djokovic came into his semifinal against Musetti with an 0-3 record in that stage at the Games, losing to the eventual champion each time: Rafael Nadal (Beijing), Andy Murray (London) and Alexander Zverev (Tokyo). Djokovic mentioned that “hurdle” repeatedly the other day.
Of equal concern to Djokovic leading into Friday night was his knee, in which he felt what he described as “sharp pain” while getting past Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals Thursday night. Djokovic tore the meniscus in the knee while playing at the French Open in early June, then had surgery in Paris.
But Djokovic was just fine, instead bothered by things such as the chair umpire calling him twice for time violations and then warning him for an audible obscenity.
When it ended, Djokovic dropped to his back and stayed down on the court with his limbs spread for a few moments.
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