There is little reason why Novak Djokovic should not feel confident about reaching his goal of winning a gold medal at the Olympics. The Serbian is by far the best tennis player remaining in the draw and he is playing better and better.
His performance against Nishikori was his best match since the French Open win over Nadal and he won't stop there. He improved to 17-2 against Nishikori and he admitted to being really prepared ahead of the match which showed.
"Kei, I know his game very well. Him playing in Japan, this court where he had lots of success, I knew that he's going to play very quick and he's not gonna give me a lot of time so I had to be very alert. And I feel I had an answer for everything he had."
And Djokovic truly had an answer to everything Nishikori could and could not do. His comfort level also seemed higher than in any match before which is to do with the improved playing conditions due to matches starting later. Asked about his game he said:
"Matches are not getting easier, but my level of tennis is getting better and better. I've done that many, many times in my career: I know that I'm kind of player that the further the tournament goes, the better I'm feeling on the court. That's the case here: my best performance of the tournament tonight against the very good opponent."