Alcaraz youngest in Olympic semis since Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz says he doesn’t feel unbeatable at Roland Garros, the site of the Paris Olympics tennis competition and the French Open title he won last month. His opponents might disagree.
Alcaraz ran his winning streak at the place to 11 matches and became the youngest man to reach the singles semifinals at a Summer Games since Novak Djokovic in 2008, getting past Tommy Paul of the U.S. 6-3, 7-6 (7) at Court Philippe Chatrier on Thursday.
“I had a really great two weeks in Roland Garros — playing great tennis here, feeling great moving, feeling great hitting the ball. So (I came) here having the same feeling,” said Alcaraz, 21, of Spain. “But I can lose against everybody. I have to respect every player.”
Alcaraz announced later Thursday that he has withdrawn from next week’s Canadian Masters in Montreal.
“It has been a very long season for me and due to the accumulation of matches and fatigue, I will not be able to play in Montreal this year,” Alcaraz said in a Tennis Canada statement. “I was really looking forward to coming back to Canada and enjoying the love of the fans. Hope to see everyone in Montreal in the years to come!”
In another quarterfinal, Tokyo Games gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany lost to Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 7-5, 7-5.
“One of my best matches, so far, of my career,” said the 22-year-old Musetti, who reached his first major semifinal at Wimbledon last month.
Alcaraz already owns four Grand Slam titles and is just a few days older than Djokovic was when he took home a bronze for Serbia 16 years ago in Beijing.
This is only the latest in a series of “youngest since” or “youngest ever” achievements for Alcaraz, whose recent championships at the French Open and Wimbledon raised his Grand Slam count to four. As it is, he was the youngest man with a major championship on hard, grass and clay courts. In 2022, he became the first teenager to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings, getting there after winning the US Open.
In the semifinals Friday, Alcaraz will take on Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, who defeated Norway’s Casper Ruud in three sets. Musetti’s next foe will be the 37-year-old Djokovic, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 7-6(3).
“It’s been a while since Alcaraz lost a match here,” Paul said, “so I would say that he’s probably the favorite, right?”
Alcaraz and Paul, whose best showing at a major was a semifinal run at the 2023 Australian Open, are developing a bit of a rivalry. Alcaraz is now 5-2 head-to-head, which includes defeating Paul a few weeks ago in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
This one, played at Chatrier stadium with Spain’s queen in the crowd, could have become a lot more complicated.
Paul nearly pushed the match to a third set.
“A really intense match,” Alcaraz said.
Paul served for the second at 5-3 and got within two points of taking it a couple of times there, but he couldn’t get closer, including missing a volley off a dipping cross-court passing shot by Alcaraz and pushing a backhand long. Alcaraz eventually broke with an on-the-run forehand passing winner after Paul smacked a terrific forehand approach shot to a corner.
The crowd went wild. Alcaraz pointed his right index finger to his ear, then raised that fist.
In the tiebreaker, Paul earned a set point at 7-6, and he conjured up a drop half-volley that Alcaraz sprinted to, then slid, and guided a down-the-line backhand that went off the edge of Paul’s racket frame and toward the stands. Again, Alcaraz gestured as the spectators roared.
On Alcaraz’s second match point, Paul yanked a forehand wide.
“It’s not a secret that, right now,” Paul said, “Alcaraz is kind of like the golden standard.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
