In the men’s singles final on Sunday, Alcaraz and Djokovic will fight for their first gold medals.
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Félix Auger-Aliassime on Friday 6-1, 6-1, cruising into the men’s singles gold medal match at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. For Alcaraz, it’s his fourth consecutive victory over his Canadian opponent.
The third-ranked player in the world, Alcaraz, is undefeated in the French Open event at Roland Garros. On Sunday, he takes on Novak Djokovic, with a gold medal at stake.
Alcaraz, 21, would become the youngest man to win a gold medal in tennis at the Olympics if he prevails. The Spaniard is almost one month younger than American gold medallist Vincent Richards from the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Alcaraz, who defeated American Tommy Paul on Thursday, has now won 12 straight matches. He is the youngest player to get to the Olympic singles quarterfinals since Djokovic in 2008.
Against Auger-Aliassime, Alcaraz was at his best, winning 15 of 21 first-serve points and 9 of 11 second-serve points. In addition, he won five return games and converted break points at a 5-or-9 rate.
Happy to reach his first Olympic final, Djokovic
first-placed Novak Djokovic defeated Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, to go to his first Olympic final. On Sunday, he will compete for the gold medal against No. 2 Alcaraz.
Six meetings between Djokovic and Alcaraz have resulted in three victories for each player. Alcaraz most recently triumphed over Djokovic in the Wimbledon championship match of this year, taking the All England Tennis Club by storm and winning in straight sets.
The youngest vs oldest match will determine the gold medal winner. Alcaraz is the youngest competitor in the men’s singles Olympic gold field at age 21. At 37, Djokovic is the oldest competitor to make it to the men’s final.
Being the three-time winner of the French Open championship at Roland-Garros, the site of this year’s Paris tennis event, Djokovic is well aware of his Olympic background.
“You know, I’ve been waiting for this for almost 20 years,” Djokovic remarked in his post-match interview with Britney Eurton of NBC. “This is my fifth Olympic Games, and in the four I competed, I never made it past the semifinals. Thus, in my first four Olympic Games, I lost three of the four semifinals, but I overcame this significant obstacle.”
He went on, saying, “I must be honest and say that I was thinking about all the semifinals that I’ve lost,” highlighting how significant it is for him to reach the final for the first time in his career.
There was no All-American men’s doubles final.
Australia’s Matthew Ebden and John Peers defeated Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, in the men’s doubles semifinal on Friday.
The gold medal final on Saturday would have included fellow Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, six-time Grand Slam doubles champions, if the third-seeded Paul and Fritz had advanced. Rather, they will compete for bronze later on Friday against Tomáš Macháč and Adam Pavlásek of the Czech Republic.
After defeating Andy Murray and Daniel Evans of Great Britain in the quarterfinals, Paul and Fritz advanced to Friday’s semifinal, thereby ending Murray’s tennis career.
Świątek wins the bronze.
Iga Świątek of Poland won the bronze medal in the women’s singles competition on Friday, defeating Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-1.
After losing to China’s Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals, Świątek, the top-seeded player in the world and the favorite for gold, took just 59 minutes to win her first match at Roland Garros. This was her first victory in 25 matches.