Carlos Alcaraz dreams of gold in Paris | ATP Tour

Paris Olympics

Alcaraz dreams of gold in Paris

The Spaniard will compete in the final in his first Olympic Games

August 02, 2024

Now, whatever happens, Carlos Alcaraz will leave the Philippe Chatrier next Sunday with a medal around his neck in his first adventure at the Olympic Games. The Spaniard has secured his ticket to the final this Friday against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The PIF ATP Rankings No. 3 defeated the Canadian 6-1, 6-1, in one hour and 14 minutes in their eighth match in the past seven days between singles and doubles at Paris 2024.

With hardly any rest between the two disciplines – although he was already eliminated in the doubles alongside Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals – Alcaraz will secure another medal in the event alone for Spain in this edition of the Games and will try to become, at 21 years of age, the youngest champion in the history of the competition.

“It’s going to be a very special moment for me, in my life, in my career, so I’m going to try to enjoy this moment, because it’s going to be very difficult,” Alcaraz said of the final. “It’s going to be difficult, but it will be special… I’ll try to stay focused on myself and try not to listen to all this, the fans, everyone who says I’m going to win. I just want to play my best tennis at 100% and hopefully achieve my goal of winning gold.”

Alcaraz is also seeking to become the second Spanish tennis player to win an Olympic gold medal (Nadal already did so in Beijing 2008) against Serbian Novak Djokovic, who defeated Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2.

Jordi Arrese, silver medallist in Barcelona 1992; Sergi Bruguera, silver medallist in Atlanta 1996; and Pablo Carreño Busta, bronze medallist in Tokyo 2020; are the other compatriots who have won an Olympic medal.

To be in a position to engrave his name in the history of the Olympic Games, the Murcia native had to defeat one of his most uncomfortable rivals at the start of his career and with whom he maintains a series of 4-3 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head, after the victory in the semi-finals in the French capital (he had lost the first three matches against the Canadian).

However, from the start, Alcaraz showed that the clay courts of Roland Garros are a stage where he feels at home. He has now won 12 matches in a row, after winning the Coupe des Musketeers last June and the victories against Hady Habib (1R), Tallon Griekspoor (2R), Roman Safiulliin (3R), Tommy Paul (CF) and Auger-Aliassime (SF).

“I have to say that yesterday was a tough day for Felix, playing a difficult match in singles, mixed doubles as well and finishing late, so it was probably difficult for him to rest and he probably didn’t play his best tennis physically in the match,” the Spaniard added about the match. “I have to focus on myself, on my game. I’m very happy with my performance. Probably one of the best in this tournament so far, so I’m happy with the feeling and I hope I continue like this and do better in the final.”

As fate would have it, Alcaraz and Auger-Aliassime met on the same stage where they last did so on June 2 in the fourth round of Roland Garros. And this time, a strong start by the Spaniard helped him secure the first set, with a double break that allowed him to add five games in a row (5-1).

The Canadian, who had knocked out two favourites in Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud in the previous rounds, never found his best tennis. He broke the streak of seven consecutive lost games to equalise 1-1 at the start of the second set. But he saw Alcaraz string together three more games that handed him the victory on a silver platter.

This Sunday, Alcaraz will try to ascend to the tennis Olympus and repeat a feat that Nadal already achieved in 2008: winning at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.

Did you know…?

Carlos Alcaraz will play his 45th match in the final of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Sunday, in a season in which he has already won three trophies at the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. His record so far is 38-6, with a success rate of 86.3%.