Tokyo Olympics: Novak Djokovic and Belinda Bencic pull double duty

Novak Djokovic roared into the quarter-finals with a near perfect performance against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic was in no mood of messing around, as he brushed aside the no.34 ranked young challenger from Spain in ruthless fashion.

Djokovic grabbed the first set 6-3 after securing an early break in the 4th game of the set. In the second set, he turned things up a notch, as he ran through the Spaniard, hitting deep groundstrokes and serving terrifically, losing just one game in the set, to complete a 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Up next for the Serbian is Japan’s home favorite Kei Nishikori, who beat Belarusian Ilya Ivashka, to book his third successive Olympics quarter-final spot.

Novak Djokovic also made it to the mixed doubles quarter-finals, as he returned to Centre Court, in little over 90 minutes following his singles match, to team up with Nina Stojanovic for Team Serbia’s mixed doubles encounter against the Brazilian duo of Marcelo Melo and Luisa Stefani.

It was a comfortable victory for Team Serbia, as they now await the German duo of Kevin Krawietz and Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals.

Bencic continues to impress

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic keeps growing in confidence with every match, as she managed yet another impressive performance against this year’s French Open finalist, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

It was a fast start from the Swiss, who looked untouchable on serve in the first set, losing just THREE points on her serve in the entire set. Bencic returned her opponent’s serve brilliantly, consistently putting the ball deep in the court and barely missed anything, storming to a first set bagel in just 25 minutes.

Pavlyuchenkova though, wasn’t going to be easily dissuaded, as she fought back to take the second set 6-3, hitting more winners and serving better as compared to her Swiss counterpart, who understandably had a drop-off after the insane level of play in the first set.

The third set was a closely contested affair, but Bencic managed to break the Russian in the first and the final game of the set, to score a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 victory, booking a semi-finals spot in her Olympics debut.

The Swiss now faces No.15 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who comes in red-hot form after taking out No.7 seeded Garbine Muguruza.

Belinda Bencic is also through to the women’s doubles semi-finals alongwith her teammate Victorija Golubic, following their victory over Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and Ellen Perez.

The Swiss duo face-off against the Brazilian pair of Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani for a place in the Finals.