Murray vs. Djokovic: Redemption Will Continue for Djokovic in Olympic Semis
This is where it all ended for Novak Djokovic on the grass courts of Wimbledon a month ago.
In the semifinals of arguably the most coveted major in tennis, Djokovic faced Roger Federer with a berth to the Wimbledon final on the line. That was his chance to make up for a devastating loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final just a few weeks earlier.
Wimbeldon was his chance to prove he was still the world's top tennis player, and just like he did at Roland Garros, he blew it. Federer went on to win his seventh Wimbledon title, while Djokovic went home to ponder how he was going to redeem himself following two majors that had inexplicably gone awry.
Well, now's his chance.
On Friday (11 a.m. ET, NBCOlympics.com), Djokovic will face Andy Murray in the men's singles semifinals, where his only goal will be reaching the final on the grass courts—something he couldn't do just a few weeks ago—and keeping an Olympic gold within reach.
Murray, too, will be looking for redemption of his own. Great Britain's top seed saw his own dreams come tumbling down on these courts a month ago, when Federer defeated him in the Wimbledon final and robbed him of the opportunity to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936.
And given the way he's been playing throughout the first several rounds of the Olympics, redemption is something he can taste.
In the quarterfinals, he took care of Spain's Nicolas Almagro (6-4, 6-1) in under an hour. In the third round, he dropped a set to Marcos Baghdatis, but persevered to emerge victorious, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Djokovic hasn't been perfect during the Olympics. His biggest challenge came in the quarterfinals versus France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
He destroyed Tsonga 6-1 in the first, but he got complacent and lost the first three games of the second set before waking up and finishing off Tsonga for a 6-1, 7-5 win.
Winning, even on these courts, is something Djokovic can do, especially after a scare like the one he got against Tsonga.
On the road to the French Open final, he wasn't perfect, either, and it took a semifinals matchup against Federer—his toughest competition yet—to wake him up again. Back then, in the French Open semis, Djokovic won 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, and it was easy.
Because of the way the French Open and Wimbledon ended, it's easy to forget how dominant Djokovic was for so long.
It's easy to forget that prior to the final at Roland Garros, he'd been undefeated in his last 27 Grand Slam matches.
It's easy to forget that he hadn't failed to reach the semifinals of a major since the 2010 French Open, and that he'd been gunning for a Grand Slam sweep.
The goal on Friday morning is to remind everyone of all of that.
Even if a gold medal doesn't translate into a major victory, it will be redemption enough. A win at Wimbledon is a win at Wimbledon.
