Novak Djokovic needed a bit of time to assert himself Wednesday at the Paris Olympics before taking control with a five-game run for a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dominik Koepfer of Germany, reaching the Summer Games singles quarterfinals for the fourth time.
Carlos Alcaraz had less trouble joining Djokovic in the quarterfinals with his 6-4, 6-2 win over Roman Safiullin. But another top player on Alcaraz's half of the men's bracket, 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev -- a Russian who, like everyone from his country, must compete under the label individual neutral athletes -- exited with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
A gold medal is pretty much the only accomplishment of significance missing from the résumé of Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia who has won a men's-record 24 Grand Slam titles and spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone in the history of the computerized tennis rankings.
That is why Djokovic, who is the top-seeded man in Paris, has proclaimed success at these Olympics as his priority for the year. His one medal so far was a bronze in 2008 in Beijing, when he lost to rival Rafael Nadal in the semifinals; Djokovic also was beaten in the semifinals by the eventual champions at London in 2012 (Andy Murray) and at Tokyo three years ago (Alexander Zverev).
"The goal," Djokovic said, "is to break that barrier of the semifinals."
Tennis matches are being played at Roland Garros, the facility that hosts the French Open, which Djokovic has won three times.
Next up for Djokovic will be a familiar foe in a familiar setting: On Thursday, Djokovic meets Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece for a spot in the final four. It's a rematch of the 2021 French Open final, when Tsitsipas took the first two sets before Djokovic came back to win in five.
"The best thing that you can have as a tennis player is to have the memory of a goldfish, so that's what I've been trying to work on," said Tsitsipas, who beat Sebastian Baez of Argentina 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday.
"I don't expect anything less than a big fight and a tight match," Djokovic said of Thursday's clash. "The goal is to get to the finals and have a battle for that gold."
Alcaraz will next face American Tommy Paul, who booked his first Olympic quarterfinal and ended France's hopes of a home medal when he beat the unseeded Corentin Moutet 7-6 (5), 6-3. Taylor Fritz of the U.S. was knocked out by Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-4, 7-5.
Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Alexander Zverev beat Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 6-3.
Medvedev entered the day with a 7-0 head-to-head record against Auger-Alissime but is no fan of playing on clay: Five of his eight French Opens ended in the first round. Medvedev reached six Grand Slam finals, all on hard courts, with two of the five defeats at that stage coming against Djokovic.
Auger-Alissime will play Norway's Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals. Ruud beat Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-3, 6-4.
Against Koepfer, Djokovic was patchy in parts at the outset, not as crisp as when he got past Nadal in straight sets in the second round. This one was 5-all in the first set, with Koepfer ripping big forehands to manage to steer Djokovic along the baseline.
Djokovic would look up at his box, where his wife, Jelena, and their son were seated. He sometimes put his arms out and muttered -- as much to himself as to them.
But he took the last two games of the first set, eliciting chants of his two-syllable nickname from the crowd: "No-le! No-le!" When Koepfer trudged to the sideline, he chucked his racket at his bench.
Djokovic then began the second set by going up 3-0. That's when Koepfer was visited by a trainer to get treatment for a blister on his left middle finger.
Koepfer is a 30-year-old left-hander who has a sub -.500 career record, only once made it as far as the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament, is currently ranked No. 70 and never climbed higher than No. 49.
Djokovic was wearing a gray sleeve on his right knee, which was operated on in Paris in early June after he tore the meniscus during a French Open match. He participated at Wimbledon less than a month after the operation and made it all the way to the final before losing to Alcaraz.
Now Djokovic is the first man to reach the singles quarterfinals four times at the Olympics since tennis returned to the Summer Games in 1988.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.