Olympics 2021: 3 talking points from Novak Djokovic's 3R win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was in top form during his third-round encounter against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday. The top-ranked Serb defeated the Spaniard 6-3, 6-1 to progress to the quarterfinals, where he will face local favorite Kei Nishikori.
Djokovic, who is bidding to win an elusive Calendar Golden Slam, dominated from the get-go, suffocating the Spaniard with his deep groundstrokes and powerful serve.
On that note, let's take a look at the three major talking points from Novak Djokovic's win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina:
#1 Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 21 matches
Djokovic's victory over Davidovich Fokina extended his winning streak to 21 matches. The World No. 1 won four matches in Belgrade, seven each at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and three more in Tokyo.
Overall, Djokovic has accumulated a 37-3 win-loss record in 2021 thus far, winning four titles (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Belgrade 2).
After an average start to the claycourt season by his standards, Djokovic caught fire in Belgrade, dropping just one set en route to the title. The Serb carried that form into Paris, where he beat "King of Clay" Rafael Nadal in the semifinals before defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas to win his second Roland Garros title.
Djokovic then reigned supreme at Wimbledon, thereby becoming the first male player since Rod Laver to win the first three Grand Slams of the year. The World No. 1 is now just three wins away from securing his first-ever gold medal at the Olympics.
Winning the gold would also take him one step closer to the Calendar Golden Slam.
#2 Novak Djokovic's serve did the heavy lifting once again
Novak Djokovic has slowly but surely developed into one of the finest servers on the men's tour. His serve was instrumental in his Wimbledon triumph this year, with the Serb winning 85% of his service points at the All England Club.
He's carried that serving form into the Olympics. The Serb served a total of nine aces against Davidovich Fokina and won 81% of his first-serve points. He lost only 13 points on serve in total and conceded just two break points.
The Serb has served a total of 30 aces in just three matches in Tokyo (seven against Hugo Dellien, 14 against Jan-Lennard Struff and nine against Davidovich Fokina).
#3 Novak Djokovic was not too efficient on break points
Djokovic converted all three of the break point chances he generated against Struff in their second-round match. But he was a lot less efficient against Davidovich Fokina on Wednesday, converting only four of the nine opportunities he had on the Spaniard's serve.
Against Hugo Dellien in the first round, Djokovic converted only four of 10 break chances.
Against superior opponents in the coming rounds, Djokovic may not generate as many opportunities to break and will thus need to be much more efficient.