TT: Not at her best, Manika ousted

Manika Batra’s splendid run came to an end following a meek surrender against higher-ranked Japanese Miu Hirano. The seasoned Manika had become the first Indian to progress to the Round of 16 at the Olympic Games on Monday. Up against Miu, who has been in tremendous form, Manika lost 6-11 9-11 14-12 8-11 6-11 in the pre-quarterfinals. Manika enjoyed healthy leads in Game 2 and 3 but Miu switched gears with ease to prevent the Indian from scripting more history. “I could have put in more effort. I was not happy with the way I started. I am not happy internally,” Manika said.

Djokovic, Alcaraz closer to golden showdown

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz stayed on collision course for a golden showdown as they surged through to the quarterfinals. Djokovic, probably in the last-chance-saloon as far as his Olympics title hopes go, beat Germany’s Dominic Koepfer 7-5 6-3 to reach the last-eight at the Games for a record fourth time. The 21-year-old Alcaraz, seeded two, then followed suit with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Russian Roman Safiullin. Women’s top seed Iga Swiatek survived a scare against American Danielle Collins to reach the semifinals after her opponent retired in the deciding set at a hot and humid Roland Garros. The Pole was rattled and stunned by a fierce ball to the body early in the third set, but composed herself to earn a 6-1 2-6 4-1 victory.