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Novak Djokovic ended his Olympic semifinal woes by becoming the oldest men’s singles finalist and set to face 21-year-old Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest gold medalist, for tennis gold.
PARIS, France – Novak Djokovic broke his Olympic semifinal jinx on Friday, August 2, defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Musset 6-4, 6-2 and setting up a thrilling match against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz for the men’s singles tennis gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
The 37-year-old Serb has lost in the Olympic singles semi-finals three times before, but he capped it off with a high-quality victory at the French Open, so he was in no mood for more pain.
Earlier at Court Philippe Chatrier, the 21-year-old Alcaraz defeated Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-1.
Djokovic, who has 24 Grand Slam titles in his career but Olympic gold is the only accolade missing, collapsed to the floor after match point as he realised he was in the final.
“It was a very tense match and I had a lot of emotions and pressure before the match,” Djokovic said. “I was very excited and I wanted to win the gold medal, but this is already a huge result for me.
“I was very nervous before the match and really wanted to win this match.”
Djokovic’s only Olympic medal was a bronze medal in the semifinals against Rafael Nadal in Beijing in 2008. He lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals at London in 2012 and was blocked by Alexander Zverev at Tokyo.
Musetti followed in the footsteps of Italian duo Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani, who had previously reached the women’s doubles final, and played well, but Djokovic found a break point in the 10th game to take the first set.
Djokovic lost his composure in the second set, trailing 2-1, and the foul left him furious.
But he then won five consecutive matches to become the oldest player in the Olympic men’s singles final.
Huge obstacles
Second-seeded Alcaraz is the youngest player and will be a formidable obstacle judging by the way he beat Auger-Aliassime.
The 21-year-old was in excellent form and needed just over an hour to book her spot in the final.
“I played at a high level from start to finish,” Alcaraz told Eurosport’s Alex Correja on the pitch.
“One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to win a gold medal and now we are going for it with this tournament. This is a very important moment for my team, my family and the people of Spain and I want to do this.”
Auger-Aliassime was expected to become the first Canadian to reach the Olympic singles final but fell short.
“Whether it was forehand shots, forehand inside-out shots, back-in shots, I mean, every aspect, the movements, the defense, I had it under control, there’s nothing more to say,” the 23-year-old said.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Iga Swiatek easily defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1 to take bronze, providing some consolation for her unexpected loss in the singles semifinal on Thursday, August 1.
China’s Zheng Qinwen, who defeated Swiatek, will face Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the women’s gold medal match on Saturday, August 3 (Sunday, August 4, Manila time).
Paolini and Errani easily defeated Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-2 to reach the doubles final, as Italy secured its first Olympic tennis medal since 1924.
They will face Russians Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, who are competing as neutral athletes, after defeating Spanish players Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes 6-1, 6-2.
Unseeded Australian pair Matthew Ebden and John Pearce beat American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-2 to secure a place in the men’s doubles final, where they will next face another American pair, Rajiv Ram and Austin Krajicek. – Rappler.com
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