Carlos Alcaraz came up short in doubles with Rafael Nadal, but the 21-year-old is one win away from a Paris Olympics medal in singles and two wins away from gold.
Standing in Alcaraz’s way of the final is Felix Auger-Aliassime, who will be facing the Spaniard for the seventh time on Friday afternoon. The head-to-head series is all tied up at 3-3, but that hardly tells the real story. Auger-Aliassime took their first three encounters in 2021 and 2022, but Alcaraz has won three in a row dating back to the 2023 Indian Wells Masters. The current world No. 3 has reeled off seven consecutive sets at the Canadian’s expense and no set during this stretch has been more competitive than 6-4.
It is a bit surprising that Auger-Aliassime has managed to give himself another shot at Alcaraz. The world No. 19 was a modest 21-16 for the season heading into the Olympics, but he is playing on arguably his favorite surface and is suddenly looking like the best version of himself. Auger-Aliassime opened with routine wins over Marcos Giron and Maximilian Marterer before pulling off upsets of both Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud.
Alcaraz is looking every bit like favorite to win a third straight huge tournament on the heels of triumphs at both the French Open and Wimbledon. He has advanced in Paris by knocking off Hady Habib, Tallon Griekspoor, Roman Safiullin, and Tommy Paul. Not too surprisingly, not a single one of those opponents was able to snag a single set.
Given Alcaraz’s current form and his recent dominance against Auger-Aliassime, all signs point to the first semifinal being a straightforward affair.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
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WWW?
FAA, please .
I thought clay was his best surface TOO, until suddenly he couldnt win a match unless it was on indoor hard. Must be two of them…
TOO = also
Definitely Alcaraz to win and clinch gold in the final. Best player in the world right now.
Agree Amy, really hope so too, as he would be mirroring what Rafa did in 2008,winning b2b RG and SW19, and an Olympic gold, in the same year 🥇🎾
Would be very surprised if he doesn’t win gold Alison.
Yes his 21 year is looking very similar if not identical to Rafa at 22.
I do get cheesed off that the commies don’t remember how great Rafa was initially on grass. In his 21st year he had that excellent 5 setter at wimby against Fed where he choked on multiple break points in the fifth.
Don’t want to be churlish about Alcaraz’s brilliance but the competition he faced from a lameduck recovering from injury Novak is completely different gravy from Rafa playing Fed in his prime.