Djokovic, Alcaraz head to Olympic golden showdown

PARIS, France – Novak Djokovic beat Italy’s Lorenzo Musett,i 6-4, 6-2, to snap his Olympic semifinal jinx on Friday, August 2, and set up a blockbuster battle against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz for the Paris Games men’s singles tennis gold.

The 37-year-old Serb had lost his three previous Olympic singles semifinals but was in no mood to suffer more heartache as he came through a high-quality contest at Roland Garros.

Earlier on Court Philippe Chatrier, the 21-year-old Alcaraz thrashed Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-1, 6-1.

Djokovic, for whom the Olympic gold is the only accolade missing from a career that has brought him 24 Grand Slam titles, collapsed on his back after match point as the reality of reaching the final sank in.

“It was such a tense match, a lot of emotions and stress coming into this match,” Djokovic said. “I’m thrilled, I want to win gold but already this is a huge result for me.

“I was very nervous before the match and really wanted to get through this one.”

Djokovic’s only Olympic medal is a bronze from Beijing 2008 after losing to Rafa Nadal in the semifinal. He lost to Andy Murray in the 2012 semifinal in London, and in Tokyo it was Alexander Zverev who blocked his path.

Musetti, bidding to follow the Italian pair of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani who had earlier reached the women’s doubles final, played superbly but Djokovic found another gear to break serve in the 10th game and take the first set.

Djokovic lost his cool in the second as he went 2-1 down, earning a code violation which left him seething.

But he responded by knocking off five straight games to became the oldest Olympics men’s singles finalist.

Formidable obstacle

Second seed Alcaraz is the youngest and judging by the way he demolished Auger-Aliassime, he will be a formidable obstacle.

The 21-year-old was in devastating form and needed little more than an hour to book his place in the final.

“I played at a very high level from the beginning to the end,” Alcaraz told Eurosport’s Alex Corretja on court.

“One of my objectives at the beginning of the year was to win a gold medal and now we have this one match to try to get it. It’s a very important moment for my team, my family, and the Spanish people and I want to do the business.”

Auger-Aliassime was bidding to become the first Canadian to reach an Olympic singles final but was outclassed.

“Be it the forehand, the forehand inside out, the back inside, I mean, every aspect, the movement, the defense, I was dominated, there’s not much more to say,” the 23-year-old said.

Poland’s Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, earned some consolation for her surprise singles semifinal defeat on Thursday, August 1, as she easily beat Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 6-2, 6-1, for bronze.

Swiatek’s conqueror Zheng Qinwen of China plays Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the women’s gold-medal match on Saturday, August 3 (Sunday, August 4, Manila time).

Italy is guaranteed its first Olympic tennis medal since 1924 after Paolini and Errani eased past Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the doubles final.

They will play Russians Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, who are competing as neutral athletes, after they crushed Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes, 6-1, 6-2.

Unseeded Australian pair Matthew Ebden and John Peers booked their place in the men’s doubles final with a 7-5, 6-2 victory against Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul and will now face another US duo in Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek. – Rappler.com