In an ominous sign for his fellow semifinalists, Novak Djokovic declared a rout of Kei Nishikori his “best performance of the tournament” as he took a step closer to Olympic singles gold.
The world No.1 demolished the Japanese star 6-2 6-0 in just 70 minutes on Thursday night in Tokyo for his 22nd consecutive match win.
It was also his 16th in a row against Nishikori, who admitted he could not keep pace with his decorated opponent.
"He was defending amazing today. Everything deep. I thought I was playing OK but my serving was bad today and he was attacking every [time],” Nishikori assessed.
"The way he's played today, this week and last couple months, it's been amazing."
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Indeed, Djokovic has been an almost unstoppable force in 2021, improving his record to a sparkling 37-3 after beating Nishikori.
Among those wins have come titles at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, making him the first player since Rod Laver, more than half a century ago, to capture the first three major titles in one season.
His imperious progress in Tokyo keeps him on track to achieve his lofty goal of a calendar-year Golden Grand Slam – all four majors, plus Olympic gold, in one year.
Steffi Graf, in 1988, is the only other player in tennis history to achieve this incredible feat.
Instead of tightening up as tennis immortality draws closer, Djokovic appears increasingly emboldened.
He has surrendered only 17 games, and not a single set, in four wins so far in Tokyo, and he is brimming with confidence.
"I felt like I had an answer for everything he had,” Djokovic said of Nishikori.
“The matches are not getting easier but my level of tennis is getting better and better.
“I’ve done that so many times in my career. I know that I’m the kind of player that, the further the tournament goes, the better I feel on court.
“And that’s the case here.”
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev is next in line to try and stop Djokovic, who is appearing in his third Olympic semifinal but is yet to advance to a gold medal match.
While the head-to-head between the pair is not as lopsided as the series between Djokovic and Nishikori, Zverev has still only beaten Djokovic twice in eight meetings, although their two matches in 2021 have been tight affairs.
And the Serb has won the past five, dating back almost three years.
“He’s the favourite but I know that,” said Zverev, who, like Djokovic, is yet to drop a set at Tokyo 2020.
“There’s very few guys that can beat him in the world and hopefully I can be one of them.
“I know I’ve done it before, I know that he is playing the best tennis of his life, but hopefully tomorrow I can show my best tennis as well.”
Djokovic and Zverev clash in the second men’s singles semifinal of Friday’s schedule, after Pablo Carreno Busta and Karen Khachanov do battle.