Carlos Alcaraz becomes the first finalist in singles tennis after defeating Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime 6-1 and 6-1. The Spaniard has already secured a medal and will go for gold against the winner of the duel between Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti.
Alcaraz is the fourth Spanish player to reach the men’s singles final since tennis returned to the Olympics in Seoul in 1988. The 21-year-old joins Jordi Arrese at Barcelona 1992, Sergi Bruguera at Atlanta 1996, and Rafael Nadal at Beijing 2008.
The tennis player from Murcia has always defeated Aliassime. The most recent, the only one so far on clay, was at Roland Garros. Alcaraz won in three sets, without any palliatives. This time, in the same venue as weeks ago, he hopes to be crowned Olympic champion.
Carlos Alcaraz with record in Olympic Games finals
Carlos Alcaraz also holds the record of being one of the youngest to reach an Olympic Games final.
The Spaniard is the youngest player to reach the men’s singles final since tennis returned to the Olympic Games in Seoul 1988, ahead of Switzerland’s Marc Rosset, who won gold in Barcelona 1992 aged 21 years and 275 days.
Alcaraz shines. So does his medal. With his place on the podium assured, his opponent awaits. The winner of the match between Serbian Novak Djokovic and Italian Lorenzo Musetti will be his opponent on Sunday. The Spaniard has already fulfilled his duty. The medal that Spanish sport was counting on was in his pocket.
Novak Djokovic at risk of possible injury
Serbian Novak Djokovic expressed concern about his right knee after his victory over Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas which took him to the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament and into the fight for medals in Paris 2024.
The winner of twenty-four Grand Slams felt pain in his right knee, which he underwent surgery on almost two months ago.
Djokovic, who has been playing with a visible knee brace since his surgery, expressed his concern after his victory.
“I am very worried, honestly, I don’t know what to say. I finished the match and the intense pain disappeared. Whether I hit or slipped, I don’t even know for sure,” said the 37-year-old Serbian player, who is aiming for the Olympic gold that is missing from his list of achievements.
Novak Djokovic is in the middle of the race to win the only title that is missing from his list of achievements, the Olympic gold medal. The Serbian took advantage of the doubts of the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas who wasted his clear chances to prolong the duel and won 6-3 and 7-6(3) in two hours and two minutes.
He was limping at times and at other times he seemed better. Tsitsipas became overconfident again and served out the set at 5-3. He had 40-0. Three chances to take the set, tie the match, and force his rival to make a greater effort. Tsitsipas’s pulse trembled again and he looked like a loser.
With this, Djokovic became the first player to reach the singles semi-finals at the Olympic Games on four occasions. The Serbian, at 37 years and 74 days, is the oldest to reach the singles semi-finals since tennis returned to the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988.
