PARIS, Aug 1: Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the singles semi-finals at a Summer Games since Novak Djokovic in 2008 by getting past Tommy Paul of the US 6-3, 7-6 (7) at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
Alcaraz is a 21-year-old Spaniard, just a few days older than Djokovic was 16 years ago in Beijing.
This is only the latest in a series of “youngest since” or “youngest ever” achievements for Alcaraz, who is coming off titles at the French Open — which is held at Roland Garros, the same facility being used for the 2024 Paris Games — in June and at Wimbledon in July.
Those trophies raised his Grand Slam trophy 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. And, so on.
In the semi-finals on Friday, Alcaraz will take on three-time major runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway or Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada. Their quarterfinal was later Thursday.
The quarter-finals on the top half of the men’s bracket were the now-37-year-old Djokovic of Serbia versus Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, and Tokyo Games champion Alexander Zverev of Germany versus Lorenzo Musetti of Italy.
Alcaraz and Paul, whose best showing at a major was a semi-final 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 could have become a lot more complicated. Paul nearly pushed the match to a third set.
He served for the second at 5-3 and got within two points of taking it a couple of times there, but couldn’t get closer, including missing a volley off a dipping cross-court passing shot by Alcaraz, then 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 tie-breaker, 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 set point, Paul yanked a forehand wide, and that was that. (AP)
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