By Reinaldo Oliveros
01 Aug 2024, 11:37 AM EDT
Carlos Alcaraz reached the semi-finals at Paris Tennis 2024. The Spaniard defeated Tommy Paul 6-3 and 7-6 to get fully into the fight for medals in singles tennis.
Alcaraz did not have an easy match. He dominated the first set, but in the second he had to come from behind after losing his serve.
After breaking Paul, they reached a tiebreak that was decided with a break in favor of the Spaniard.
Now, the Murcian will be able to fight for medals in his next match. If he wins the semi-final he will secure at least a silver medal, while if he loses in the semi-finals he will still have a chance of a bronze.
Carlos Alcaraz makes history for Spain
Carlos Alcaraz became the fifth Spanish player in history in Paris 2024 reach the semi-finals of the men’s singles tournament at the Olympic Games.
Alcaraz joins Jordi Arrese in Barcelona 1992, Sergi Bruguera in Atlanta 1996, Rafael Nadal in Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016 and Pablo Carreño in Tokyo 2020. All of them ended up with a medal except for Rafael Nadal in Rio 2016, who finished fourth, beaten in the match for third and fourth place with the Japanese Kei Nishikori.
Also, at 21 years and 91 days, Alcaraz is the youngest player to reach the men’s singles semi-finals. at the Olympic Games since Beijing 2008, when Novak Djokovic achieved it at 21 years and 87 days.
New Olympic champion in Paris 2024
The current Olympic men’s singles tennis champion, German Alexander Zverev gave up his crown and will be left without a medal after losing in the quarterfinals with the Italian Lorenzo Musetti for a double 7-5.
The German, a Roland Garros finalist beaten by Carlos Alcaraz, was unable to prevail over the transalpine, who has enjoyed a superb run in recent months.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Musetti, ranked sixteenth in the world, took two hours to beat Zverev for the first time in his career, fourth in the ATP rankings, to whom he had lost at the Madrid Masters 1000, also on clay, in 2022.
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