Alcaraz might face Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles final.
Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the Olympic Games final on Friday, while Novak Djokovic battled a fitness issue in hopes of ending his gold medal drought. French Open and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the men’s final since tennis returned to the Games in 1988 by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime. The 21-year-old won 6-1, 6-1 in just 75 minutes and will face Djokovic in Sunday’s final if the top-seeded Serb can overcome a knee injury and defeat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the second semi-final.
“Winning the gold medal has been a goal since the beginning of the year, and now we’re one match away,” said Alcaraz. “I want to enjoy the final and get the job done.”
Spanish star Alcaraz, playing on the same Roland Garros court where he won his first French Open in June, broke the 19th-ranked Auger-Aliassime three times in the first set, winning six consecutive games. He broke again in the fourth and sixth games of the second set, securing his fourth consecutive win over the Canadian.
“The final is very important for me and the Spanish people, but I will focus on the match,” said Alcaraz.
He is the fourth Spanish man to reach the Olympic men’s final, following Jordi Arrese (Barcelona 1992), Sergi Bruguera (Atlanta 1996), and Rafael Nadal (Beijing 2008).
Djokovic, after his quarter-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday, expressed concern over his right knee, which required surgery in June. The top seed is eager to secure an Olympic gold to complement his 24 Grand Slam titles, but at 37, time is running out. His best Olympic performance was a bronze medal at Beijing 2008, and he has lost in three subsequent semi-finals.
Djokovic will face Musetti, the first Italian to reach the singles semi-finals at the Olympics. The 22-year-old, who lost to Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals last month, has won all four of his matches in Paris in straight sets. Musetti reached the semi-finals by defeating defending champion Alexander Zverev.
Despite holding a 6-1 head-to-head record over Musetti, Djokovic has had tough matches against him at Roland Garros. In the 2021 French Open, Musetti led by two sets before a back injury forced him to retire. This June, Djokovic needed five sets to win a third-round match that ended after 3:00 am.
World number one Iga Swiatek, whose semi-final loss to Zheng Qinwen on Thursday ended a 25-match winning streak at Roland Garros, will play Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the women’s bronze medal match.
The first gold medal of the Olympic tennis event will be decided in mixed doubles, with the Czech pair of Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac facing Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen. Siniakova won women’s doubles gold with Barbora Krejcikova in Tokyo three years ago. Wang and Zhang aim to win China’s second tennis gold, following Li Ting and Sun Tiantian’s women’s doubles victory in Athens 2004.
