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• 'I have waited almost 20 years' – Djokovic delighted to end long wait for Olympic singles final

  Novak Djokovic was relieved to end his Olympic semi-final hoodoo and finally reach the singles final at the Games for the first time.

  The 24-time major champion defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2 to ensure he would walk away from Roland-Garros with a medal.

  Djokovic will now face number two seed Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of last month's Wimbledon final.

  The 37-year-old was aware of the enormity of the achievement in going one step further, having suffered semi-final losses to Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev in three previous Olympic semi-finals, though he did claim bronze at the Beijing Games in 2008.

  "I have been waiting for this for almost 20 years," Djokovic said in his on-court interview.

  "I've played four Olympic Games, this is my fifth and '’ve never passed the semi-finals. I lost three semi-finals in my first four Olympic Games.

  "I managed to overcome this big hurdle. I must be honest and say that I was thinking about all the semi-finals that I lost."

  The Serbian had to overcome injury concerns after his quarter-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Djokovic was more encouraged by his mental strength against an opponent that has made great strides on the ATP Tour this season in Musetti.

  "I just tried to be in the present moment. I played against a player who is in great form and really came out firing from both ends," Djokovic added.

  "I just tried to maintain the focus and do what I have to do."

  Sunday's final between Djokovic and Alcaraz will be the seventh meeting between the pair, with the head-to-head currently at three apiece.

• Alcaraz relishing 'special' Olympics final against Djokovic

  Carlos Alcaraz is relishing what will be a "special moment" in his already remarkable career as he prepares for an Olympic gold medal match.

  Alcaraz defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1 6-1 on Friday to take his place in the final of the men's singles, which will take place at Roland-Garros on Sunday.

  And standing in the way of the Spaniard, who won the French Open earlier this year, and a gold medal is 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic.

  Like Alcaraz, the 37-year-old Djokovic is into his maiden final at the Games, having previously claimed bronze in 2008.

  Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the final of Wimbledon in July, would be the youngest-ever champion of the men's singles should he triumph. He is the second-youngest male to have made it into a singles final at the Games, after Robert LeRoy in 1904.

  "It's going to be a really special moment for me, in my life, in my career, so I'm going to try and enjoy this moment, because it’s going to be really difficult," Alcaraz said.

  "It's going to be difficult, but it’s going to be special.

  "I will try to be focused on myself and try not to hear all this, all the fans, all the people that say 'I'm going to win'.

  "I just want to give 100% my best tennis and hopefully I reach my goal to get the gold."

  Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, conceded he was simply second best.

  He said: "I just couldn't find a way to be comfortable in any pattern, any position.

  "Whether it was trying to dominate the forehand cross-court or change of direction, the forehand inside-out, the backhand side.

  "Every aspect. The movement. The defence. I was dominated.

  "He's improved a lot, every time we've played. I don't have the solutions right now."

  Auger-Aliassime swiftly shrugged off his disappointment by winning the bronze medal match alongside Gabriela Dabrowski in the mixed doubles.

  Their success against Dutch pair Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs marked Canada's first medal in the mixed doubles.

• Murray proud of achievements following hip surgery

  Andy Murray is immensely proud of what he achieved after his return from life-altering hip surgery in 2019.

  Murray, a three-time major champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, retired from tennis after his doubles campaign at the Paris Games came to an end on Thursday.

  The 37-year-old and his partner Dan Evans lost to American duo Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in straight sets.

  When reviewing his career after the hip surgery in 2019, Murray spoke of his pride in achieving victories against some of the brightest talent that the sport has to offer in the years that followed.

  He also looked back fondly on the 46th and final title of his career, which came in Antwerp against great rival and fellow three-time slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka.

  "Winning the trophy in Antwerp was great and although the results certainly weren't consistent I did have wins against quite a lot of players who are up at the top of the game – [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Jannik] Sinner, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Hubert] Hurkacz," Murray told BBC Sport.

  And Murray doubts whether a similar comeback will be seen again.

  "To do that with a metal hip, I don't know if that will happen again or not," he added.

  "I was the first to try to do it and although it didn't go perfectly I was able to have what many players would consider a pretty successful four or five years."

  Though Murray acknowledges the challenges he faced playing with a resurfaced hip, he remains content with how he was able to compete well into his thirties. 

  "It wasn’t the same as it was before but that's what I’m most proud of – I was able to come back and play at the highest level with a pretty significant physical limitation," he said.