Second seed Carlos Alcaraz clinched his first Olympic semifinal berth in his debut at the Games. The Spaniard dismissed American Tommy Paul in a scintillating straight-sets victory, 6-3, 7-6.
The No. 2 seed seamlessly shook Paul in Set 1, relying on his devastating forehand to whip the No. 9 seed around the court, and clocked five aces to take the first half of the match.
Paul wasn’t put off so easily, and the American made a push in Set 2. Paul’s quarterfinal run at the Olympics is another feather in the already impressive world No. 12's cap. The 27-year-old has won two tour-level titles this year, and has posted an impressive 31-11 record so far this season.
The American started Set 2 with a leading charge, 5-2. Alcaraz, the defending champion of the French Open immediately broke back, and before long tied the match at 5-all. The crowd’s cries of “Carlos!” didn’t deter Paul, who once again took the lead with another break, before Alcaraz caught up and evened the score at 6-all, pushing the match to a tiebreak.
The tiebreak pace matched that of the second set, and as one player took a point, the next went to their opponent, and so it went until Paul deftly placed a drop shot right over the net outside of Alcaraz’s reach, and the game was in set break. In the next point, Paul once again tried to lean on a slight of hand, but Alcaraz glided to the short shot, and Paul shanked the return shot wide. Alcaraz stayed the course for the next two points, and clocked a forehand winner to secure the victory.
Alcaraz’s singles win comes after he and doubles partner Rafael Nadal fell to Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek the night before. Despite the loss, tennis fans across the world were delighted with the Spanish legends linking up to play together, naming the super-smash duo, "Nadal-caraz".
Alcaraz’s win has made him the youngest player to reach the men’s singles semifinals at the Olympics since Beijing in 2008, when another Paris player, Novak Djokovic did the same. Fans are eagerly anticipating what could be a blockbuster Olympic men’s final, should Alcaraz advance, he could face the No. 1 seed Djokovic for the gold medal.