Tag: Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the Olympic Games men’s tennis final on Friday when he thrashed Felix Auger-Aliassime in a one-sided Paris Olympics clash. 

Alcaraz, 21, swept to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the Canadian in just 75 minutes and will meet Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final if the top-seeded Serb overcomes a knee injury and Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the second semi-final.

“It has been an objective since the start of the year to try and win the gold medal and now we have one match left to try and get it done,” said Alcaraz.

“I want to have fun in the final and do the business.”

Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz, playing on the same Roland Garros court where he won the French Open in June, broke the 19th-ranked Auger-Aliassime three times in the first set, racing away with six consecutive games.

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Alcaraz broke again in the fourth and sixth games of the second set on his way to claiming a fourth successive win over the Canadian having lost the first three of the pair’s series.

“It was a very complete performance and I played at a very high level from start to finish,” said Alcaraz.

“I had very good feelings and sensations, I’m so happy.”

He added: “The final is very important for me and the Spanish people but I try not to think about how important it is and will focus on the match.”

Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz is the third Spanish man to reach the Olympic men’s final after Jordi Arrese at Barcelona in 1992, Sergi Bruguera in Atlanta four years later and Rafael Nadal who won gold at Beijing in 2008.

He now has the chance to become the youngest men’s champion since tennis returned to the Olympics at Seoul in 1988.

READ: Pakistan shooter Kishmala Talat knocked out of Paris Olympics

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz were dumped out of the Paris Olympics men’s doubles on Wednesday by Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in possibly Nadal’s last appearance at Roland Garros.

The Spanish dream team lost 6-2, 6-4 to the US fourth seeds, who progressed to the semi-finals in Paris.

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, dubbed “Nadalcaraz”, have been one of the main talking points at the Paris Games tennis tournament, wowing the crowds in their first two matches.

But they came unstuck in the last eight against doubles specialists Krajicek and Ram, who both have Grand Slam-winning pedigree.

Nadal was broken in the first game of the match on Court Philippe Chatrier and Alcaraz also lost serve as the US pair took the first set.

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The Spaniards suffered another costly break in the seventh game of the second set, which ultimately proved decisive.

They battled tigerishly in the 10th game but failed to take advantage of three break points and Krajicek and Ram sealed victory on their second match point.

Nadal, a 14-time French Open champion, said after his painful defeat to Novak Djokovic in the singles competition in Paris that he would make a decision on his future after the Olympics.

The 38-year-old, immortalised in a statue at Roland Garros, has been plagued by injuries in recent years and is now 161st in the world.

Alcaraz still has a chance of winning a medal in the men’s singles competition — he is through to the quarter-finals, where he will face US ninth seed Tommy Paul.

READ: Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz close in on Paris Olympics showdown

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz shrugged off crushing humidity on Wednesday to stay on course for a Paris Olympics gold medal showdown as Zheng Qinwen ended the career of former world number one Angelique Kerber.

Djokovic, seeking a first Olympic title at Roland Garros to add to his record-breaking collection, defeated German left-hander Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-3, becoming the first man to reach four singles quarter-finals at the Games.

Carlos Alcaraz brushed aside Roman Safiullin, the Russian playing in Paris as a neutral, 6-4, 6-2 to close in on another showdown with Novak Djokovic.

In the women’s singles, Zheng defeated Kerber 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) to become only the second Chinese player to reach an Olympic singles semi-final.

The 37-year-old Djokovic has only ever collected a bronze at the Olympics, at Beijing 16 years ago, but he was rarely troubled by his 70th-ranked opponent.

“I’m soaking wet, honestly,” said Djokovic, who has won three of his 24 Grand Slam crowns on Paris’s famous red clay.

“It’s a very, very humid day as it was yesterday. But you have to accept and embrace the conditions and try to make the best out of it.”

Djokovic, who had breezed past old rival Rafael Nadal in the second round, goes on to face 11th-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Djokovic boasts an 11-2 head-to-head record over Tsitsipas, including a victory from two sets down in the 2021 French Open final.

“I’ve erased it,” said Tsitsipas when asked to recall that heartbreaking defeat.

“I can see he’s motivated for this Olympics but I want to get out on the court and show that I’m a worthy player on the clay courts.”

Despite his confidence, Tsitsipas has not defeated Novak Djokovic for almost five years, with the world number two having claimed the last 10 meetings while French Open and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz has also yet to drop a set in the Paris Olympics and breezed past 66th-ranked Safiullin in 90 minutes.

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Alcaraz broke serve four times and wrapped up victory with his fifth ace of the contest.

“I am really happy with the way I managed everything during the match. The conditions were really tough with the heat and it was really humid,” said Alcaraz.

Up next for Alcaraz is Tommy Paul, the American he defeated in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Paul made the last eight by seeing off Corentin Moutet, whose defeat ended all French interest in the five Olympic tennis events.

Australian Open runner-up Zheng became the first Chinese woman since Li Na in 2008 to reach the singles semi-finals.

Her three-hour victory, in which she unleashed 64 winners, sent 36-year-old former world number one Kerber, a silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Games, into retirement.

“What can I say? I gave everything,” said Kerber, who has slumped to 212 in the world rankings. “I have loved playing tennis. Now I can leave in peace.”

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova is the first Slovakian player to make the Olympics semi-finals since Miloslav Mecir won the men’s singles title at Seoul in 1988.

The 67th-ranked Schmiedlova stunned Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets.

Later Wednesday, Iga Swiatek, the four-time French Open champion, can claim a 25th successive win at Roland Garros by making the semi-finals of the Olympics for the first time when she takes on Danielle Collins of the United States.

In the remaining women’s quarter-final Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk faces Wimbledon semi-finalist Donna Vekic of Croatia.

Defending men’s champion Alexander Zverev, the third-seeded German, plays Australia’s Alexei Popyrin while fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, also competing as a neutral, faces Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Nadal, chasing a third Olympic gold medal, plays for the fifth successive day as he and Alcaraz eye a place in the men’s doubles semi-finals.

The Spaniards face a tricky last-eight tie against fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States.

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Novak Djokovic swept past Lorenzo Musetti on Friday to book a second successive Wimbledon final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and move one win away from a record-setting 25th Grand Slam title.

Just five weeks after undergoing knee surgery, seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic reached his 10th final at the All England Club with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 win over the Italian 25th seed.

Alcaraz earlier defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to reach a fourth Grand Slam final.

Novak Djokovic, 37, can equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles and become the tournament’s oldest champion of the modern era if he avenges last year’s dramatic five-set final loss to Carlos Alcaraz.

The last time Novak Djokovic and Musetti met was at the French Open in June when the Serb claimed victory in a third-round tie which ended at 3:07 in the morning.

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On Friday, however, Djokovic was untroubled on his way to a 37th Grand Slam final.

He broke for 4-2 lead in the opener and, despite surrendering the advantage and letting two set points slip in the ninth game, he broke again in the 10th to claim the set.

The second seed was playing in his 49th Grand Slam semi-final while the 22-year-old Musetti was in his first.

That experience was key as Djokovic hit back from losing serve in the opening game of the second set to level in the sixth before dominating the tie-break.

A break in the opening game of the third set launched him on his way to victory against a demoralised Musetti, who at least had the consolation of saving three match points before Novak Djokovic completed his progress to yet another Wimbledon final.

READ: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz into Wimbledon final

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached his fourth Grand Slam final at Wimbledon on Friday when he recovered from a set down to defeat Daniil Medvedev.

World number three Alcaraz beat his fifth-ranked opponent 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and will face either seven-time champion Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti for the title on Sunday.

Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the 2023 final in a five-set thriller.

“Obviously it will be a really difficult match. Let’s see who I am going to play on Sunday,” said Alcaraz who crunched 55 winners to the 31 from Medvedev.

“I feel like I am not new anymore. I know how I am going to feel before the final. I have been in this position before.”

He added: “I started really nervous today. Daniil was dominating the match, playing great tennis. It was difficult for me.”

Twice Daniil Medvedev, beaten by Carlos Alcaraz at the same stage last year, led with breaks in the first set only to be pinned back.

Such was his frustration that he was handed a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct by umpire Eva Asderaki for an apparent foul-mouthed reaction to a ball called for bouncing twice as he was broken in the ninth game.

The tournament referee and supervisor were even summoned to Centre Court by Asderaki, but Medvedev shrugged off the incident to sweep through the tie-break and take the opening set in which he committed only eight unforced errors to the Spaniard’s 15.

It was the third time at this year’s Wimbledon that Alcaraz had dropped the first set.

Alcaraz recovered impressively, breaking Medvedev for a 3-1 lead in the second, having come out on top in the previous game on the back of a 27-shot rally.

The 21-year-old then hit 14 winners in the third set, pocketing the only break in the third game.

Medvedev, who had knocked out world number one Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals, retrieved a break early in the fourth set.

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But Carlos Alcaraz kept up his assault, edging ahead again for 4-3 on his way to victory.

Novak Djokovic has equalled Roger Federer’s mark by reaching a 13th Wimbledon semi-final and is two wins from matching the Swiss star’s record of eight singles titles at the All England Club.

Victory on Friday would take him to a 10th final at the tournament and 37th at the Slams.

At 37, Djokovic could also become the oldest Wimbledon champion of the modern era, an impressive achievement for a man who underwent knee surgery as recently as last month.

This season he has lost his Australian Open and French Open titles and has yet to make a final on tour.

He was handed a free pass into Friday’s last-four when Alex de Minaur withdrew from their scheduled quarter-final with a hip injury.

The Serb has been in feisty mood at Wimbledon accusing fans of disrespecting him in his last-16 win over Holger Rune.

“If somebody steps over the line, I react,” he said.

Djokovic has a 5-1 winning record over Musetti, including a come-from-behind five-set victory at the French Open last month.

That third-round match set the record for the latest finish at Roland Garros, with Djokovic completing victory at 3:07 in the morning.

Musetti, 22, also took Djokovic the distance in their first meeting at Roland Garros in 2021, when the Italian won the opening two sets of their last-16 tie before injury scuppered his hopes in the decider.

“He’s a legend, especially here at Wimbledon,” said Musetti ahead of his debut on Centre Court, where he was allowed to practice on Friday morning.

If Musetti reaches the final, it will be the first time in history that Italian players have reached the men’s and women’s singles finals at a Grand Slam in the same year.

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini will play the women’s final against Czech 31st seed Barbora Krejcikova on Saturday.

READ: Lorenzo Musetti sets up Wimbledon semi-final duel with Djokovic

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz shrugged off the loss of the first set to beat Tommy Paul on Tuesday and set up a repeat Wimbledon semi-final with Daniil Medvedev.

The Spanish world number three, seeking a fourth Grand Slam title, beat his 12th-seeded opponent 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 under the No. 1 Court roof.

Alcaraz was slow out of the blocks, broken twice by the in-form American in a 72-minute first set.

Paul raced into a two-game lead in the second set as Alcaraz again faltered on serve but the Spaniard got back on level terms and broke again to level the match.

Three breaks in the third set put the world number three in charge and he stepped up another gear in the fourth set, winning 92 percent of first-serve points and making just four unforced errors.

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Carlos Alcaraz, seeking to become just the sixth man to capture the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back, said it had been a tough start to his quarter-final against the recent champion at Queen’s.

“If I’m struggling a little bit to find the solutions, if the opponent is playing great tennis and I don’t get him in trouble, I believe at the end that I’ll be able to come back and be able to find solutions,” he said.

Looking forward to his match against Russian fifth-seed Daniil Medvedev, whom he beat last year on his way to winning his first Wimbledon title, Carlos Alcaraz said: “Hopefully I’m going to get the same result.

“He just won against Jannik Sinner, the best player right now, so I know that he’s in really good shape so I have to play my best, I have to believe in myself and try to keep going if I want to beat him.”

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LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz came back from the brink in a five-set thriller against close friend Frances Tiafoe at Wimbledon on Friday, winning 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 to keep his title defence on track.

The Spanish third seed was out-hit and out-fought for large periods of the match on Centre Court by his US opponent but found an extra gear when he needed to in a match lasting nearly four hours.

The two men were meeting for the first time since Alcaraz came out on top in an epic five-set match in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open on the way to his first Grand Slam title.

“Always a big challenge playing against Frances,” said Alcaraz. “He is a really talented player, really tough to face and he has shown again that he deserves to be at the top and fight for big things.

“Really difficult for me to adapt my game, to find solutions to put him in trouble but really happy to do it at the end of the match.”

Carlos Alcaraz, bidding to become only the sixth man to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back, beat Novak Djokovic in a thrilling final last year.

He will face America’s Brandon Nakashima or 16th seed Ugo Humbert of France in the fourth round as he seeks a fourth Grand Slam title at the tender age of 21.

Tiafoe, seeded 29th, put Alcaraz’s serve under intense pressure in the opening set, carving out six break points and taking two of them to win it 7-5.

But the Spaniard slashed his error count in the second set, breaking twice to level the match under the roof on a damp day in London.

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Alcaraz fended off another clutch of break points from Tiafoe in the third set but cracked in the seventh game and the American, combining brutal power with finesse, made the crucial breakthrough, whipping up the crowd as he sealed the set.

The champion was in deep trouble at 0-30 in the ninth game of the fourth set but won four straight points to stay on serve.

An energised Alcaraz stepped up a level in the tie-break, powering his way to a 5-0 lead and cupping his ear to the crowd as he pulled level at two sets apiece.

An early break in the decider for Alcaraz emphatically underlined the change in momentum and he repeated the feat to take a 4-1 lead.

Tiafoe held serve to delay the inevitable but Alcaraz served out to love, sealing the deal with a clever drop shot before letting out a roar and raising his arms to the sky.

The three-time major winner said he had faced a lot of difficult moments in the pivotal fourth set but was just thinking about “hitting one more ball”.

“I have to tell myself to go for it,” he said. “If I lose it, I lose it but I have to feel that I want it all the time and most of the time it works on my side and that happened today again.”

Carlos Alcaraz is chasing his third trophy of the season. Last month, he triumphed at Roland Garros to become the youngest man in history to win a major on all three surfaces.

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Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz recovered from an early stumble to sweep into the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday, dispatching Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic in straight sets.

The third seed dug deep to take the opening set against his 69th-ranked opponent before shifting impressively through the gears to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-2.

From 5-2 up in the first set, the Spaniard briefly lost his way to trail 5-6.

However, with the pressure on, Alcaraz broke back to force a tie-break and from then on it was one-way traffic.

The 21-year-old broke twice in the second set and repeated the feat in set three, pounding a total of 42 winners.

Alcaraz, who beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final, wrapped up victory in one hour, and 48 minutes.

Vukic defeated then-17-year-old Alcaraz in qualifying at Roland Garros in 2020 but could not repeat the feat on the grass at the All England Club.

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“I’m really happy about my performance today,” said Alcaraz. “The first set was the key for me. He served for the set, then I played a really good tie-break.

“In the second set and third set, I played a really high level so I’m really happy about it.”

The three-time Grand Slam champion is bidding to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back.

He next faces Frances Tiafoe, the American player he defeated in five sets in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open on his way to his first Grand Slam triumph.

The Spaniard said he would “put on a show” against Tiafoe, ranked 29th.

“I’m going for him,” he said. “We played a really good match in the US Open.

“I know he is a really talented player, a tough one, even tougher on grass with his style. Good volley, good slices. It is going to be a very difficult match for me.

“I’m ready to take that challenge.”

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Carlos Alcaraz defeated 269th-ranked qualifier Mark Lajal at the start of his Wimbledon title defence on Monday as Andy Murray decided whether or not to call a halt to his All England Club singles career.

As action got underway, Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka was heading home after withdrawing from the tournament with a shoulder injury.

Alcaraz, still only 21, is chasing his fourth Grand Slam title and hopes to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.

Opening the Centre Court programme, Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a breakdown in each of the first two sets to see off the dreadlocked Lajal 7-6 (7/3), 7-5, 6-2.

“He played a really good match, he obviously surprised me a little bit because I didn’t have the chance to see him play a lot,” said Carlos Alcaraz.

This time last year, Lajal was losing a first-round match at a second-tier Challenger event in the United States and earning a paltry $780 — on Monday he banked $75,000.

Two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabalenka, ranked third in the world, is one of eight players to have pulled out since the draw was made.

She had admitted she was not 100 per cent fit after suffering a shoulder injury at the Berlin Open and has been replaced by Russian lucky loser Erika Andreeva.

“Heartbroken to have to tell you all that I won’t be able to play The Championships this year,” wrote 26-year-old Sabalenka on X.

Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev reached the second round and admitted he was happy not to be playing on the All England Club’s famed Centre Court.

Medvedev, a semi-finalist last year, hit 16 aces in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States.

“I’ve still never lost on Court One so hopefully I can play a lot more matches on this court,” said Medvedev.

“Last year I said it was unfortunate I had to go to Centre Court for the semis and I lost.”

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Eighth seed Casper Ruud, who has never been past the second round, saw off Alex Bolt of Australia in straight sets and revealed he had been laid low by a parasite since reaching the French Open semi-finals.

“I was mostly in bed for 10, 11 days, which was not what I was kind of hoping for,” said the Norwegian.

Three-time Grand Slam title winner Stan Wawrinka won his Wimbledon opener at the age of 39, beating British wild card Charles Broom 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

“I think there is enough reason to keep playing. I don’t want to go home,” said Wawrinka, who made his debut at Wimbledon in 2005.

World number one Jannik Sinner, a semi-finalist in 2023, starts against Yannick Hanfmann, the German world number 110.

The 22-year-old Sinner won a maiden Slam at the Australian Open and then deposed Djokovic as world number one, becoming the first Italian man to reach such heights.

Sinner arrives in London having captured his first grass-court title in Halle.

Andy Murray, champion in 2013 and 2016, will reveal later Monday if he will play singles at his farewell Wimbledon.

The former world number one underwent surgery to remove a cyst on his spine last week and admitted he still has not fully recovered feeling in his leg.

Murray, whose 2013 triumph ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon, is due to face Czech world number 39 Tomas Machac on Tuesday.

If he cannot make that date, he still hopes to play doubles with brother Jamie before bringing the curtain down on his Wimbledon career, which began 19 years ago.

“I’m hoping maybe for a bit of closure. I just want the opportunity to play one more time out there hopefully on Centre Court and feel that buzz,” said 37-year-old Murray.

Elsewhere on opening day, women’s second seed and US Open champion Coco Gauff takes on American compatriot Caroline Dolehide.

Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka tackles Diane Parry of France in her first appearance at Wimbledon since 2019.

Osaka, who only returned to the tour at the start of the season afer maternity leave, is ranked at 113 and required a wild card to play at Wimbledon.

At the recent French Open, she gave world number one Iga Swiatek a mighty scare, holding a match point in their second-round clash before the Pole prevailed.

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French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz has set his sights on more grass-court success after his first title on the clay at Roland Garros.

The 21-year-old became the youngest man to win major titles on all three surfaces — grass, hard courts and clay — with a five-set victory over Alexander Zverev in Paris last Sunday.

But now Alcaraz’s attention has turned to yet more grass-court titles, with the Spaniard looking to repeat his London double of last year when victory at Queen’s Club was followed by a maiden Wimbledon triumph.

It has been a memorable week for Carlos Alcaraz, with his French Open success followed by the news he is set to partner 14-times Roland Garros king Rafael Nadal at next month’s Olympics in Paris.

“I had a few days off, I went to Ibiza with a group of friends. I had fun, I enjoyed my time,” Alcaraz told reporters at Queen’s on Sunday.

“Obviously Roland Garros was a fantastic two weeks for me, a dream come true to lift the trophy but right now my mind must be here on the grass.

“To be ready as soon as I can to play good tennis here at Queen’s and obviously to get ready for Wimbledon.

“Right now my focus is on the grass season, the two tournaments and after that my mind will be to be ready on clay again and playing my best tennis at the Olympic Games.”

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Carlos Alcaraz, turning to the prospect of joining forces with Spanish tennis great Nadal at Roland Garros in the Olympics, said: “I feel really, really happy to play doubles in the Olympics and with an idol like Rafa.

“I mean, I didn’t expect to play doubles at the Olympic Games with Rafa. It is a unique moment for me but of course I am very happy about it. Let’s see how it’s going to be but it’s going to be a great time.

“Honestly, I feel he is going to teach me how to deal with everything. I am the young guy who needs to grow up as a player, to grow up as a person as well.”

He added: “Of course it’s going to be my first Olympic Games. Everything is new for me, so I hope to learn a lot from him.”

Carlos Alcaraz begins his Queen’s Club campaign against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday.

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