‘Hope the best Olympic result for me comes in Paris’

IMAGE: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has set his eyes on the elusive Olympic gold medal. Photograph: Francois Nel/Getty Images

Novak Djokovic stated he’s already trying ahead to subsequent 12 months’s Olympic Games in Paris, as he seeks to win a gold medal that has to this point eluded him in an in any other case glittering profession.

World primary Djokovic gained a bronze medal in Beijing 2008 however has been unable to construct on that in 2012, 2016 and 2021. The Serbian stated he hopes to be match and wholesome for subsequent 12 months’s showpiece, by which era he might be 37.

The tennis competitors at Paris 2024 might be held on the clay courts of Roland Garros the place Djokovic has gained two of his 22 Grand Slam titles — in 2016 and 2021.

“I stay up for the Olympics,” Djokovic informed reporters after beating Tallon Griekspoor in Dubai on Wednesday. “I hope I’ll have the ability to play wholesome for subsequent 12 months in Paris.

“It’s going to be performed on clay at Roland Garros, so I’m conversant in these grounds. I hope the best Olympic result for me will come there.”

Australian Open champion Djokovic is right into a record-breaking 378th week at primary after surpassing Steffi Graf and stated he was hungry for extra information and success.

“I all the time attempt to be very clear with myself what the targets are, what I need from aggressive tennis,” Djokovic stated.

“This is the means I’ve been introduced up and taught by a few of the key individuals in my life, together with my mother and father, and a few of the coaches I had early on.

“This form of mentality helped me to all the time be so dedicated to the sport. I all the time remind myself it is the willpower, the need to succeed that is a necessary ingredient in the complete components.”

IMAGE: Katie Volynets pulled off a shocking win over third-seeded Anastasia Potapova in Austin, Texas in the ATX Open. Photograph: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

WTA Roundup: Katie Volynets escapes 5-0, third-set gap

Meanwhile, in the ongoing ATX Open in Austin, United States’ Katie Volynets pulled off an upset win. 

Down 5-0 and a match level in the third set, the Volynets rallied to upset third-seeded Anastasia Potapova of Russia 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 on Wednesday in the second spherical of the ATX Open.

Volynets heated up whereas profitable the final seven video games, as she misplaced only one level complete in the ultimate three video games. The result strikes the 21-year-old right into a WTA Tour quarterfinal for the first time.

Up subsequent for Volynets is a matchup towards hometown favorite Peyton Stearns, who gained the 2022 NCAA girls’s singles championship for the University of Texas. Stearns downed Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund 6-3, 7-5 in second-round motion.

Fourth-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States defeated Great Britain’s Heather Watson 6-4, 6-4, and Varvara Gracheva produced a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 win in an all-Russian matchup towards Anna Blinkova.

Abierto GNP Seguros

Third-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia wanted simply 80 minutes to rout the United States’ Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-2 in the second spherical at Monterrey, Mexico.

Vekic put simply 48 p.c of her first serves in play, however she prevailed by selecting on Navarro’s second serve, profitable 14 of 18 factors. Vekic additionally saved 9 of the 11 break factors she confronted.

Fifth-seeded Lin Zhu of China registered a 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3 win over Canada’s Rebecca Marino, and Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure topped Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-3.

In the final match of the evening, the United States’ Caroline Dolehide eradicated Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-4.