Novak Djokovic Ousts Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to Advance to Olympic Tennis Semifinals

The devastation Novak Djokovic felt at Wimbledon last month is one step closer to being erased.

In the Olympic quarterfinals, the Serbian took down Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-5 in a hard-fought battle on the grass courts on Thursday afternoon.

After Djokovic won the first set, Tsonga turned up the heat and gave him a run for his money, taking the first three games of the second. Djokovic, however, won the next three straight games to even the set.

After Tsonga won the next game to take a 4-3 lead, things got interesting.

Tsonga allowed Djokovic to even the score at four games apiece, and after winning the fifth, he once again let the Serbian tie it up. From then on, it was all Djokovic, who withstood Tsonga's pressure throughout the entire second set and managed to take a 6-5 lead before steamrolling his opponent in the final game to win 7-5.

The Serbian finished with 22 winners and 11 unforced errors, while Tsonga had 18 and 19, respectively. 

Thus far in London, Djokovic dominated his first-round matchup versus Fabio Fognini before taking down Andy Roddick with ease in the second round, 6-2, 6-1. Australian Lleyton Hewitt gave him his biggest scare, stretching him to three sets—but Djokovic pulled through to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

A gold medal at the Olympics would give Djokovic his first big victory since winning the Australian Open earlier this year. Since then, it's been disappointment after disappointment—first at the French Open, then at Wimbledon, where he bowed out to Roger Federer in the semifinals a month ago. 

Only two more wins and he can turn it all around.