Tennis: Djokovic And Alcaraz Move Through To Golden Showdown At The 2024 Olympics
Novak Djokovic snapped his Olympic semi-final jinx with a 6-4 6-2 defeat of Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti on Friday to set up a blockbuster battle for gold against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
The 37-year-old Serb had lost his three previous Olympic singles semifinals but was in no mood to suffer more heartache as he came through a high-quality contest at Roland Garros.
Earlier on Court Philippe Chatrier, the 21-year-old Alcaraz thrashed Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1 6-1.
Djokovic needs only the Olympic gold to complete the full set of achievements in a career that has earned him 24 Grand Slam titles and the relief of reaching the final was clear as he laid on his back, arms outstretched, after match point.
Djokovic lost to Rafa Nadal in the semifinal in Beijing, Andy Murray in the 2012 last four in London and in Tokyo it was Alexander Zverev who blocked his path.
Musetti, bidding to follow the Italian pair of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani who had earlier reached the women’s doubles final, played superbly but Djokovic found another gear to break serve in the 10th game and take the first set.
Djokovic, who had concerns over his strapped-up knee ahead of the match, lost his cool in the second after twice dropping his serve, and was raging after a code violation.
But he responded by knocking off five straight games to became the oldest Olympics men’s singles finalist.
Second seed Alcaraz is the youngest and judging by the way he demolished Auger-Aliassime he will be a formidable obstacle.
The 21-year-old was in devastating form and needed little more than an hour to book his place in the final.
Auger-Aliassime was bidding to become the first Canadian to reach an Olympic singles final but was outclassed.
Realistically, Sunday’s final is Djokovic’s last chance to scratch his Olympic itch but he said he has nothing to lose.
The first gold medal of the tennis event went to Czech pair Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac who won the mixed doubles, beating China’s Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen 6-2 5-7 10-8.
In the bronze medal playoff, Canada’s Auger-Aliassime teamed up with Gabriela Dabrowski to defeat Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek earned some consolation for her tearful semifinal defeat on Thursday as she easily beat Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 to win bronze.
Swiatek’s conqueror Zheng Qinwen of China plays Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the women’s gold medal match on Saturday.
Italy are guaranteed their first Olympic tennis medal since 1924 after Paolini and Errani eased past Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova 6-3 6-2 to reach the doubles final.
Swiatek’s conqueror Zheng Qinwen of China plays Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the women’s gold medal match on Saturday.
Italy are guaranteed their first Olympic tennis medal since 1924 after Paolini and Errani eased past Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova 6-3 6-2 to reach the doubles final.
They will play Russians Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, who are competing as neutral athletes, after they crushed Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes 6-1 6-2.
Unseeded Australian pair Matthew Ebden and John Peers booked their place in the men’s doubles final with a 7-5 6-2 victory against Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul and will now face another US duo in Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
