OH PARIS – Carlos Alcaraz (21) is one win away from confirming his role as the biggest favorite in the singles competition in his Olympic debut. The champion of the last two Grand Slams again swept Félix Auger-Aliassime (23) on the Paris clay after two months, this time after sets 6:1, 6:1. He will play against Novak Djokovic (37) for the gold medal, the Serb beat Lorenzo Musetti (22) 6:4, 6:2 and made it to the final on the fifth attempt.
Auger-Aliassime – Alcaraz 1:6, 1:6
Carlos Alcaraz won the fourth fight in a row with Félix Auger-Aliassim and turned the mutual balance to 4:3 in his favor. He won for the second time in a row on the Paris clay, two months ago in the round of 16 of the French Open he lost only seven games and this time he gave him an even bigger beating.
The Canadian, who yesterday fought for three hours to advance to the semi-finals and lost the mixed doubles match late in the evening, did not find a recipe for the aggressive game of the Spanish super talent even under five rings. Even because of his poor performance, he ended up even worse when he did not reach a break point, defended his own serve only twice and spent only an hour and a quarter on the court.
Alcaraz has dominated the last two Grand Slam events including the French Open, extending his collection of Grand Slam laurels to four. In recent months, he is undefeated at the biggest events and has been the biggest favorite in the singles competition since the beginning, even though he is making his Olympic debut.
As only the second man in history, he can dominate the French Open and Wimbledon in one season and get a valuable metal from the Olympics. So far, only Rafael Nadal (2008) has succeeded, with whom he lost in the quarterfinals of the doubles and did not win the precious metal. You’ve got your taste now in singles.
Male players to win Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, and an Olympic singles medal in the same year:
Rafael Nadal (2008)
Carlos Alcaraz (2024) pic.twitter.com/xHj6xTNmNb
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) August 2, 2024
In the final, just like a few weeks ago at Wimbledon, he will meet Novak Djokovic. For Auger-Aliassime, the Olympic tournament is definitely not over. As part of Friday’s program, he won bronze in the mix and on Saturday he will compete for third place with Lorenzo Musetti.
Djokovic – Musetti 6:4, 6:2
Novak Djokovic also made it to the finals without losing a set. The most successful player of all time had to contend with Matthew Ebden, his biggest rival Rafael Nadal, Dominik Koepfer, Stefanos Tsitsipas and the in-form Lorenzo Musetti. He adjusted the mutual balance with the Italian to 7:1 and beat him for the fourth time this year.
The Serbian veteran only showed in the semi-finals how important the Olympic tournament is to him. While in the previous duels he showed almost no emotions, in this match perhaps more of them were visible from his side than during the entire course of the season so far. In the fourth game, he did not use a series of three break points, and finally won the opening set only after a break in the last game, in which he lost 0:40.
The win of the first act did not calm him down and he lost serve twice in a row. However, he did not allow Musetti to confirm the break even once and established dominance only from the 2:2 score. In the previous match against Tsitsipas, he felt a sharp pain in his operated knee and his performance was limited for some time, but he showed no signs of injury against Musetti on Friday.
He needed five attempts to make it to the finals of the Olympic Games for the first time. The native of Belgrade, who lost the first three semi-finals in five rounds, secured a new maximum at this event on the Paris clay. The one so far was a bronze from his first Games in Beijing 2008. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for almost 20 years,” he said after proceeding.
He will compete with Carlos Alcaraz for the gold, which is the only missing piece to his phenomenal success puzzle. He clearly lost the recent Wimbledon final to the Spaniard, who is 16 years his junior, allowing him to level the score at 3-3. He performed at the All England Club about a month after meniscus surgery in his right knee.
“To face Carlos in the final is now the biggest challenge I can have. I feel better than at Wimbledon and my movement is better.” said Djokovic before Sunday’s smash.
GOING FOR GOLD. ✨ #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/iecpS2LMhy
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 2, 2024
Musetti was not enough for Djokovic in the Roland Garros area even in the third round of this year’s French Open and then bounced back to excellent results. He made it to at least the semi-finals for the fifth tournament in a row, and on Saturday he will fight with Félix Auger-Aliassim for the bronze medal.
Men’s singles results at the Paris Olympics
The article was originally published for Livesport News.
