Alexander Zverev of Germany entered the 2024 Paris Olympics as the defending champion of the singles men’s category after defeating Karen Khachanov of Russia in the final of the 2020 Summer Olympics. In Paris, the German continued his fine form on clay by defeating Jaume Munar, Tomas Machac, and Alexei Popyrin to get to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti then defeated him 7-5, 7-5 to end his run to defend his title and left him unable to equal Andy Murray’s record as the only player in the Open Era to defend a gold medal in the Olympics. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz remains the hottest tennis player on the ATP tour, continuing his winning streak in major tournaments to 18 consecutive wins since the French Open started. With a 6-3, 7-6 win over Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, the young Spaniard has earned the right to play for his first-ever Olympics medal. Who will win gold at Roland Garros?
Olympics Defending Champion Knocked Out
Lorenzo Musetti shocked the Olympic defending champion today in the quarterfinals of the tournament with a straight sets win. The Italian had earlier defeated America’s Taylor Fritz in the third round in a match where he had to come from a break of serve down in the first set to win in straight sets.
Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev had been having a fantastic tournament up until their meeting. The German had won every set he had played in the tournament with excellent performances against stalwart opponents. After defeating Taylor Fritz and Alexei Popyrin respectively, Lorenzo Musetti and Alexander Zverev clashed in the quarterfinals with their eyes on at least a spot on the Olympics podium. After reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon in July, Musetti is getting to a second consecutive semifinal of a major tournament for the first time in his career.
Musetti is also the first Italian to get to the semifinal of the Olympics since 1988. It took the world No. 16 two hours and four minutes to overcome the world No. 4 in a heated exchange. He’s now earned the right to take on the winner of the blockbuster quarterfinal clash between Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Carlos Alcaraz Breaks Into Semifinal
After defeating Tommy Paul in their quarterfinal clash, Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest male player in the singles category to get to the semifinal of the Olympics since Novak Djokovic set that record in 2008. It’s the fifth time the Spaniard has gotten to a semifinal this season. He’s won the title on three of those occasions.
Carlos Alcaraz’s win over Tommy Paul marks his fourth win over the American. It’s also his third consecutive win in their head-to-head record. Both players had met in this same stage of the Wimbledon Championships. Alcaraz defeated Paul 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 on that occasion.
In the semifinal, Spain’s last hope of winning a medal in the men’s category would face the winner of the clash between Norway’s Casper Ruud and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime. Alcaraz has defeated Casper Ruud four consecutive times, the first of them being on clay and the rest on a hard court. If they meet in the semifinal, it would be their second meeting in a major tournament after the 2022 US Open final.
On the other hand, the Spaniard has a 3-3 head-to-head record against Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian won their first three encounters while the Spaniard won the rest. This could put momentum on the side of the Spaniard, especially with his fantastic run of form in the last few months.
With the way the draw was laid out, there’s a high probability that the final of the Olympics men’s singles category could feature a rematch of the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon Championships finals between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic if both players can defeat the opponents in their way.
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