ALEJANDRO DAVIDOVICH FOKINA

Novak Djokovic is optimistic about his game going into the French Open despite going another week without a title.

Novak Djokovic is off to a good start at the Madrid Open after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Gael Monfils in the second round.

The president of the Italian Tennis Federation says five-time champion Novak Djokovic can come to Rome and play at the Italian Open next month even if he is still not vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Two days, two wins and making it look easy.

Tokyo Olympics Tennis Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, reacts after defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, of Spain, during the third round of the men's tennis competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 28, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Patrick Semansky)TOKYO — (AP) — With the topic of athletes’ mental health and pressure being discussed at the Olympics, Novak Djokovic said “pressure is a privilege.”The top-ranked Serb was asked how he deals with the pressure of attempting to accomplish something that no man has done before in tennis: completing a Golden Slam. Steffi Graf in 1988 is the only tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam, winning all four Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic gold in the same calendar year. “Without pressure there is no professional sport,” Djokovic added. “Rio was (a) very tough loss for me,” Djokovic said.

Novak Djokovic says “pressure is a privilege” with the topic of athletes’ mental health and pressure being discussed at the Olympics.

Novak Djokovic has stopped Rafael Nadal's bid for a 14th French Open title and handed him just his third loss in 108 matches in the tournament.

France Tennis French Open Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece returns the ball to Russia's Daniil Medvedev during their quarterfinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium Tuesday, June 8, 2021 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) (Thibault Camus)PARIS — (AP) — The Latest on the French Open (all times local):___11:30 p.m.Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached the French Open semifinals for the second year in a row. Defending French Open singles champion Iga Swiatek is trying to win the doubles title, too, and she and her partner are into the semifinals. The 85th-ranked Zidansek beat Paula Badosa of Spain 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 to become the first semifinalist of this year's French Open. ___11 a.m.Six of the eight women's quarterfinalists at the French Open have never made it so far at Grand Slam tournament.

France Tennis French Open Germany's Alexander Zverev shows the mark on the clay as he plays Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina during their quarterfinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium Tuesday, June 8, 2021 in Paris. Instead, Zverev recovered quickly, grabbed 16 of the remaining 19 games and easily moved into his third Grand Slam semifinal by defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. And he played so much more cleanly that Davidovich Fokina, who wound up with 37 unforced errors to Zverev's 16. Zverev began this French Open in the worst way possible last week: He lost the initial two sets he played — 6-3, 6-3 against qualifier Oscar Otte. ___More AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

(AP Photo/Thibault Camus) (Thibault Camus)PARIS — (AP) — The Latest on the French Open (all times local):___7:45 p.m.Alexander Zverev has reached his third Grand Slam semifinal and first at the French Open. Zverev reached his first Grand Slam final at last year’s U.S. Open and lost to Dominic Thiem in five sets. The 21st-seeded Rybakina eliminated 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams in straight sets in the fourth round. Pavlyuchenkova will play in the final four on Thursday against another woman making her Grand Slam semifinal debut: Tamara Zidansek. ___11 a.m.Six of the eight women's quarterfinalists at the French Open have never made it so far at Grand Slam tournament.

France Tennis French Open Spain's Paula Badosa plays a return to Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova during their fourth round match on day 8, of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, Sunday, June 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (Christophe Ena)PARIS — (AP) — The Latest on the French Open (all times local):___11 a.m.Six of the eight women's quarterfinalists at the French Open have never made it so far at Grand Slam tournament. Three of them will be in action at Roland Garros on Day 10. Former junior champion Paula Badosa of Spain will face Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia. ___More AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Alexander Zverev has reached his third Grand Slam semifinal and first at the French Open.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (Christophe Ena)PARIS — (AP) — The Latest on the French Open (all times local):___9 p.m.Alejandro Davidovich Fokina reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Federico Delbonis at Roland Garros. ___7:15 p.m.Serena Williams’ latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title has ended at the French Open. ___5:25 p.m.Daniil Medvedev’s remarkable turnaround at the French Open has propelled him to the quarterfinals. ___5:05 p.m.Iga Swiatek and Bethanie Mattek-Sands have staged an improbable comeback to eliminate the top-seeded doubles team at the French Open. The previous best by a Slovenian woman was when Katarina Srebotnik reached the fourth round at the French Open and the U.S. Open.

Italy Tennis Open Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Thursday, May 13, 2021. The top-ranked Serb seemed to enjoy every moment of his 6-2, 6-1 win over Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina that put him in the Italian Open quarterfinals. They definitely gave me great sensations today on the court and I enjoyed it.”Djokovic often trains with Davidovich Fokina in Marbella, Spain. Perhaps that familiarity helped Davidovich Fokina break the top-ranked Djokovic in the opening game. In the women’s tournament, top-ranked Ash Barty beat Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-3 and will next face American teenager Coco Gauff, who defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-3.

Rafael Nadal showed he’s still got the stamina to withstand much younger challengers in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) comeback win over 22-year-old Denis Shapovalov that secured him a spot in the Italian Open quarterfinals.