The victory Carlos Alcaraz achieved in the Paris 2024 semifinals could not have been more imposing or decisive.
Against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 13th seed, the Spaniard dropped just two games, beating the Canadian 6-1, 6-1 to secure a medal for himself.
Alcaraz has unquestionably set his sights on the gold, but he has also made history and extended Spain’s winning streak at the Olympics.
The 21-year-old is currently the fourth Spaniard to go to the Olympic men’s singles final.
1992’s Jordi Arrese in Barcelona
Arrese stunned his home crowd 32 years ago with an incredible run to the final in Barcelona, making him one of the most unexpected Olympic finalists of the modern period.
Little was anticipated of the 27-year-old, who was seeded 16th in the draw, yet he defeated opponents like Renzo Furlan and Leonardo Lavalle to get to the home clay final four.
In an unexpected semifinal match, he overcame Andrei Cherkasov in four sets to secure a medal for himself.
Arrese lost to Switzerland’s Marc Rosset 8–6 in the fifth set, narrowly missing out on the title and having to settle for silver.
Sergi Bruguera – 1996 in Atlanta
Former world No. 3 Bruguera is most known for his back-to-back French Open victories in 1993 and 1994, yet he can also take pride in his Atlanta exploits as an Olympic medallist.
Despite not being ranked, the Spanish player advanced to the final four after defeating Greg Rusedski, seventh-seeded Arnaud Boetsch, and fourth-seeded MaliVai Washington.
Then, in order to go to the final, Bruguera stopped Fernando Meligini of Brazil’s unexpected run. However, Andre Agassi defeated Bruguera in straight sets.
2008. Rafael Nadal in Beijing
Thanks to his incredible performance in the Beijing Games sixteen years ago, Rafael Nadal became the first tennis gold medallist from Spain.
The 22-year-old Rafael Nadal, the winner of the most recent French Open and Wimbledon, dominated the early going in the competition, dropping just one set en route to the last four.
He faced longtime nemesis Novak Djokovic there, but fought his way through to the championship match after winning three sets.
The former world number one defeated Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in straight sets to win the gold.
2024 Carlos Alcaraz in Paris
Now, more than fifteen years later, Alcaraz has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his hero — the man he double-teamed in Paris this past two weeks.
Alcaraz has basically been coasting to the final, barely exerting himself.
His campaign got off to a strong start with victories against Hady Habib and Tallon Griekspoor. In round three, he easily defeated Roma Safiullin to make it to the last eight.
a quarterfinal matchup with Tommy Even though he defeated the American in straight sets and saved a set point in a second-set tiebreak, Paul has proven to be his most difficult opponent thus far.
He will try to win the gold on Sunday after putting on a powerful performance in the final against Auger-Aliassime.
Continue reading: Carlos Alcaraz pulls off an incredible Olympic feat by dominating his way into the gold medal match.