Defeating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime has sent Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz to the final of the Olympics in his debut year in the tournament. This marks the Spaniard’s third appearance in a major final in 2024 after reaching the final of the French Open and Wimbledon in June and July.
The 6-1, 6-1 win over Auger-Aliassime marks Alcaraz’s fourth win over the Canadian in seven meetings between them. This also makes Carlos Alcaraz the youngest male player to appear in the final of the Olympics in the singles category since tennis returned to the competition in 1988. Will he leave Paris with a gold medal?
Carlos Alcaraz Bests Felix Auger-Aliassime
Before entering the Olympics as the second seed behind fellow Wimbledon finalist, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz has had a phenomenal run in the last two months. He got to the finals of the last two Grand Slam tournaments and won both. Since the start of the French Open, Carlos Alcaraz has won 20 of his last 21 matches.
Carlos Alcaraz will enter the Court Philippe-Chatrier arena as the bookmakers’ favorite to win the gold medal regardless of if he faces Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti. Thirteenth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime came into their semifinal clash off the back of three confident performances against stalwart opponents, including a straight sets win over Daniil Medvedev in the third round and a difficult quarterfinal win over Norway’s Casper Ruud.
Auger-Aliassime couldn’t match the firepower of Spain’s golden boy in their semifinal clash as the young Spaniard dominated him from start to finish with 10 of 11 points contested at the net, 12 winners, and a quick one-hour and 15-minute victory.
If Carlos Alcaraz gets Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday, it would be the third major final the pair have clashed in. So far, Carlos Alcaraz has won both of the previous times they met in a major final, both times in the Wimbledon Championships.
Rafael Nadal: “I Will Be Supporting Him From Home.”
Rafael Nadal couldn’t hold back his excitement after Carlos Alcaraz made it to the final on his first attempt. Both players had represented Spain in the doubles category until they were knocked out by Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States in the quarterfinals. Nadal said this about Alcaraz:
“If my age was 10 years less, we’re going to create a beautiful relationship on tour, of course, and we’re going to share a lot of beautiful moments together, but that’s not going to happen. So it’s normal that we will not see each other as soon as if we keep playing the normal tour. But, of course, I will be supporting him from home, wishing him all the very best every single time.”
Carlos Alcaraz is seen as the heir to Rafael Nadal’s throne as the Spanish King of tennis but he would prefer to chart his course. The young Spaniard has expressed his desire to grow in his career to the point where he’d be worthy enough to be compared with the legacy of the “Big Three” of Nadal, Djokovic, and Roger Federer.
Between the” Big Three,” 66 Grand Slam titles have been won, with Rafael Nadal winning 22 of them. Rafael Nadal turned pro in 2001 and won his first Grand Slam title four years later in France. Similarly, Alcaraz turned pro in 2018 and won his first Grand Slam title four years later in the United States.
At 38, Rafael Nadal has undoubtedly played his last Olympic match, and when he eventually retires, he’d rest with the two gold medals he won. If Carlos Alcaraz wins the gold medal on Sunday, it won’t be beyond comprehension to expect him to equal or possibly better Nadal’s record in the competition by the time his career is over.
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