02 August,2024 08:14 PM IST | Paris | IANS
Spain`s Carlos Alcaraz returns to US` Tommy Paul during their men`s singles quarter-final tennis match on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Stadium during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris. Pic/AFP
Spain's French Open winner Carlos Alcaraz quelled a tough fight from Tommy Paul of the United States to reach the men's singles semifinals of the tennis competition at the Olympic Games at the Stade Ronald Garros here on Thursday.
Alcaraz was pushed hard but found a way to continue his quest for Olympic glory to reach the last four stage and get into the medal rounds, maintaining his chances of adding to the French Open and Wimbledon titles he won in the last couple of months. The Spaniard recovered from a slump at the start of the second set to overcome American Tommy Paul 6-3, 7-6(7).
The 21-year-old had entered the match having earned three consecutive straight-sets wins in singles. The second seed was tested by the American, who beat Alcaraz in Montreal and Toronto in the past. However, as fans have become accustomed to in his electrifying early career, Alcaraz found a way in the key moments.
Alcaraz had it easy in the first set but rallied from 2-5 in the second. With Paul serving at 5-3, Alcaraz tracked down a ball deep in the forehand corner and unleashed a brutal winner on the run, raising his arm aloft and then finger to his ear after breaking Paul's serve.
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His winner brought the vocal Court Philippe Chatrier crowd to their feet and they rose once again when Alcaraz saved one set point at 6/7 in the second-set tie-break when he tracked down a drop shot to flick a backhand down the line.
Alcaraz then sealed victory on his second match point to become the fifth Spaniard to reach the men's singles semi-finals since the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
In another quarterfinal, Italian Lorenzo Musetti continued his resurgent run as he upset World No. 4 and defending Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev 7-5, 7-5 to reach the semifinals.
Musetti was competing in the final at the ATP 250 clay-court event in Umag when the singles event began on Saturday in Paris. After falling in the title match, the 22-year-old made the journey from Croatia to France, where he has been rampant on the Parisian clay.
Musetti moved past Gael Monfils, Mariano Navone and Taylor Fritz in his first three matches before he earned his first Top 5 win of the season against Germany's Zverev.
The No. 16 ranked player in the ATP Rankings, who also reached his first major semifinal at Wimbledon three weeks ago, fired 20 winners against Zverev to become the first Italian player to reach the singles semi-finals since tennis returned to the Olympics in Seoul in 1988.
Norway's Casper Ruud and Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime are in the third quarterfinal while Serbia's Novak Djokovic will take on Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth later in the day.
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