Carlos Alcaraz fought from 1-4 down in the second set to complete his quarterfinal victory over Tommy Paul in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 men's tennis on Thursday, August 1.
Carlos Alcaraz battled from 1-4 down in the second set to thwart Tommy Paul, 6-3, 7-6 (7), and enter the semifinals in Paris 2024 men's tennis on Thursday, August 1.
The four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, at 21 years and 88 days, thus became the youngest semifinalist in the Olympic men's singles event since 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, who was 21 years and 85 days old in Beijing in 2008.
[WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz enters medal rounds with quarters win over Tommy Paul | Paris 2024 highlights]
The 21-year-old Spaniard, who has so often displayed mental fortitude in the biggest moments in his young but already stellar career, fought his way back in the match, eventually recovering the break in the ninth game of the second frame on a forehand pass on the run.
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But the World No. 3 found a pesky opponent in 13th-ranked Paul, who even held at love at 5-6, and, in the ensuing tiebreak, even erased a match point then held a set point of his own at 6-7 on a volley.
The reigning Roland Garros champion had an answer to Paul, who found success in attacking the net in the second, in the next point.
Alcaraz neutralized Paul's drop shot with a volley of his own to save the set point, then scored on a forehand to outwit the American who ran the opposite direction and gain his second match point at 8-7.
The Spanish prodigy converted it this time as Paul misfired from his forehand.
Alcaraz thus set up a semis battle with the winner between two-time Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in their own quarterfinal pairing.
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Alcaraz, the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles across three surfaces after also ruling the US Open in 2022 and going back-to-back in Wimbledon this year, fired 22 winners but faltered to 23 unforced errors in the match that went just a minute shy of two hours.
Paul kept his unforced errors to 18, but also had lesser winners at 12.
The Spaniard attacked the net 20 times, collecting 15 points there while the 27-year-old American ventured forward 30 times and won 16.
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Alcaraz thus won his first faceoff with Paul on clay to improve his head-to-head edge to 4-2.
Prior to this match, Paul suffered his recent loss against Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon where he won the first set before the eventual champion whipped up a comeback to win in four, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
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The American logged victories over Alcaraz on the hard courts of Montreal and Toronto in 2022 and 2023.