Medal table | Olympic calendar | How to watch | Olympic News
Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the men’s singles gold medal match at the Paris 2024 Olympics after beating Félix Auger-Aliassime on Friday 6-1, 6-1. This is Alcaraz’s fourth consecutive victory against his Canadian opponent.
Alcaraz, world number 3, has not yet lost a set in the tournament at Roland Garros, site of Roland-Garros. He will face Novak Djokovic on Sunday with a gold medal on the line.
If he wins, Alcaraz, 21, will become the youngest man to win an Olympic gold medal in singles tennis. The Spaniard is about a month younger than American Vincent Richards, who won gold at the 1924 Paris Games.
It now represents 12 consecutive victories for Alcaraz, who became the youngest man to reach the Olympic singles semi-finals since Djokovic in 2008 after beating American Tommy Paul on Thursday.
Alcaraz was dominant against Auger-Aliassime, winning 15 of 21 points on the first serve and 9 of 11 points on the second serve. He was also 5 of 9 on converted break points and won five return games.
Djokovic grateful for reaching his first Olympic final
Top seed Novak Djokovic advanced to his first Olympic final after beating Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. He will face No. 2 Alcaraz for the gold medal on Sunday.
Djokovic and Alcaraz have faced each other six times, with each player winning three times. Most recently, Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in this year’s Wimbledon final, winning his second consecutive title at the All England Tennis Club in straight sets.
The gold medal match will be a match between the youngest and the oldest. At 21, Alcaraz is the youngest person to play for Olympic gold in men’s singles. Djokovic is the oldest to reach the men’s final at 37.
As the winner of three championships at Roland Garros, where the Paris tennis tournament is played, Djokovic is very aware of his Olympic history.
“You know, I’ve been waiting for this for almost 20 years,” Djokovic told NBC’s Britney Eurton in her post-match interview. “I’ve played in four Olympic Games; this is my fifth and I’ve never made it past the semi-finals. So I lost three semi-finals out of four in my first four Olympic Games and I managed to overcome this big obstacle.”
“I have to be honest and say that I was thinking about all the semi-finals that I lost,” he added, noting that reaching the final for the first time in his career was very meaningful for him.
No All-American final in men’s doubles
The team of Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz lost in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, in Friday’s men’s doubles semifinal to Australians Matthew Ebden and John Peers.
If No. 3 seeds Paul and Fritz had advanced, they would have faced fellow Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram (six-time Grand Slam doubles champions) in Saturday’s gold medal match. Instead, they will meet Czechs Tomáš Macháč and Adam Pavlásek for bronze later on Friday.
Paul and Fritz reached Friday’s semi-final after beating Britons Andy Murray and Daniel Evans in the quarter-finals, ending Murray’s tennis career.
Świątek wins bronze
Poland’s Iga Świątek won the bronze medal in the women’s singles tournament after beating Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-1 on Friday.
Świątek, the world number one player favored for gold, needed 59 minutes to win the match, which was her first victory after her 25-match unbeaten streak at Roland Garros which ended in the semifinals after a defeat against the Chinese Qinwen Zheng.