Carlos Alcaraz Aims for Gold and Fun Ahead of Olympics 2024 Tennis Final

Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the Olympic Games tennis final on Friday, facing off against Novak Djokovic, who is battling a knee injury as he seeks to break his gold medal jinx. Alcaraz, the French Open and Wimbledon champion, became the youngest man to reach the men’s final since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988. He secured a commanding 6-1, 6-1 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in just 75 minutes. If Djokovic overcomes both his injury and Lorenzo Musetti in the second semi-final, he will meet Alcaraz in Sunday’s final.

Alcaraz expressed his excitement, saying, “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. I want to have fun in the final and do the business.”

Playing on the same Roland Garros court where he won his first French Open in June, Alcaraz dominated the 19th-ranked Auger-Aliassime, breaking him three times in the first set and twice in the second. This win marks Alcaraz’s fourth consecutive victory over Auger-Aliassime, having lost their initial three encounters.

Reflecting on the upcoming final, Alcaraz said, “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.”

He joins a notable list of Spanish men who have reached the Olympic men’s final: Jordi Arrese (Barcelona 1992), Sergi Bruguera (Atlanta 1996), and Rafael Nadal, who won gold in Beijing in 2008.

Djokovic, who admitted concerns about his knee after his quarter-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, is eager to add an Olympic gold to his 24 Grand Slam titles. At 37, he is keenly aware that this might be his last chance to achieve this goal before the next Olympics in 2028. His best Olympic performance to date was a bronze medal in Beijing 2008.

In the women’s draw, world number one Iga Swiatek, who had her 25-match win streak at Roland Garros ended by Zheng Qinwen, will face Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the bronze medal match. The first gold medal of the tennis event will be decided in the mixed doubles, with Czech pair Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac facing China’s Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen.