Alcaraz adds Olympic medal to Roland-Garros, Wimbledon titles after reaching singles final
The Spaniard will face Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti in the final
Carlos Alcaraz, Paris Olympics
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz moved one step closer to completing an incredible treble – winning the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic gold medal in the same year.
On Friday, the 21-year-old Spaniard, seeded second, easily quelled the challenge of Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the men’s singles final and guarantee himself a first Olympic medal.
Alcaraz needed one hour and 16 minutes to beat Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-1 on Court Phillipe Chatrier. He will face either top seed Novak Djokovic or Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, seeded 11th, in the final.
Auger-Aliassime was undone by 23 unforced errors in the match (as compared to only 13 for Alcaraz) and the Canadian also won only 20 percent of points on his second serve (as compared to 69 percent for the Spaniard). Alcaraz also did not face a single break point on his serve while converting five of nine break points on Auger-Aliassime’s serve.
The Spaniard is hoping to follow in the footsteps of countryman Rafael Nadal and win the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympics in the same year. Nadal, who partnered Alcaraz in the men’s doubles event in Paris, achieved the treble in 2008. Alcaraz and Nadal were defeated in the men’s doubles event in the quarter-final round on Wednesday.
This was also Alcaraz’s 12th consecutive victory and his 20th win in his last 21 matches. He also becomes the second-youngest men’s singles finalist at the Olympic Games in tennis history (only Robert LeRoy was younger when he reached the final in St. Louis 1904).
