Australia's Ebden & Peers win men's doubles gold
Matthew Ebden and John Peers beat the American pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram to win Olympic men’s doubles gold for Australia.
Matthew Ebden and John Peers beat the American pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram to win Olympic men’s doubles gold for Australia.
Sunday’s Paris Olympics final will be a battle for the ages: 37-year-old Novak Djokovic, the oldest man to play in a gold medal match, against 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest.
With a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, 40 ATP Masters 1000s and 428 weeks atop the PIF ATP Rankings, Djokovic has become the gold standard in men’s tennis — the aspirational measuring stick for the game’s next generation of stars. Alcaraz is rapidly working his way toward those historic numbers. With four major titles before his 22nd birthday, the golden boy is ahead of the pace set by Djokovic and the Big 3.
“Obviously it’s a really great start of my career, but I have to keep going,” the Spaniard said after beating Djokovic in July’s Wimbledon final. “I have to keep building my path. At the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table as the big guys. That’s my main goal. That’s my dream right now.”
[ATP APP]For Djokovic, the Olympics are a rare occasion, and not just because they are held every four years. The event provides an opportunity for the great champion to chase a title he has never won before. Since he completed the Career Golden Masters — winning each ATP Masters 1000 at least once — at Cincinnati in 2018, Olympic gold remains the only ‘Big Title’ missing from his collection.
“This is a big deal,” Djokovic said after easing past Lorenzo Musetti to reach his first gold medal match. A bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Djokovic has not been on the podium since, finishing fourth in 2012 (London) and 2021 (Tokyo), either side of a shock first-round exit in 2016 (Rio de Janeiro).
After overcoming knee concerns to beat Musetti, Djokovic fell onto his back at Roland Garros in a celebratory scene usually reserved for a final.
“Just to secure a higher medal for the first time for my country, whatever happens on Sunday, is a huge, obviously pride and honor and happiness — and that’s why I celebrated the way I did,” he said. “I still need to celebrate, because it’s a big success, of course.”
This dream is long lived and fought for. I wanted to compete in the finals of Olympic games for such a long time. Representing my country at a global event is a huge privilege and honor that I cherish. Serbia will have a medal on Sunday!!! Ideeeemooooo 🥳🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸 pic.twitter.com/GLywjKPNNd
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) August 2, 2024
Debutant Alcaraz has receive a crash course in Olympic tennis this week, competing with Rafael Nadal in doubles alongside his singles run. Despite his youth, the significance of Sunday’s final is clear.
“It’s going to be a really special moment for me, in my life, in my career,” Alcaraz said after cruising past Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semis. “So I’m going to try and enjoy this moment, because it’s going to be really difficult.”
The task would have seemed even harder hours later, after Djokovic displayed some of his best tennis in dispatching Musetti. But on recent form, Alcaraz is “definitely a favourite” — at least according to Djokovic.
Alcaraz won both of his Wimbledon titles at Djokovic’s expense in the final, including a straight-sets domination less than a month ago. But the Serbian prevailed in their third championship match, winning a third-set tie-break last year in a Cincinnati epic. Djokovic also took their only previous meeting on Court Philippe-Chatrier, where they will do battle on Sunday. All told, the rivals have split six previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings.
Both men have lifted the title at Roland Garros, the site of this year’s Olympic Tennis Event. Only one can claim his first gold medal.
Sunday’s final is scheduled for not before 2 p.m. CEST/8 a.m. EDT.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]After saving two match points at the Mubadala Citi DC Open against Thanasi Kokkinakis, Sebastian Korda earned a far more straightforward victory against another Aussie on Friday. With a 6-4, 6-2 result against Jordan Thompson, the fourth-seeded American advanced to his fourth semi-final of the season.
The victory saw Korda move back to. No 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, a mark that would match his career-high PIF ATP Ranking from June. The 24-year-old can move up to No. 18 if he matches his father, Petr Korda (1992), by winning the Washington title.
[ATP APP]In his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Thompson, Korda hit 10 aces and saved the lone break point against him, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He awaits top seed Andrey Rublev or fifth seed Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals.
The opposite semi-final will see second seed Ben Shelton take on 10th seed Flavio Cobolli.
Shelton led the resurgent Denis Shapovalov 7-6(5), 6-6(6-3), and had triple match point when the Canadian was defaulted after making a comment to a fan. By coming through the all-lefty battle, the American improved to 4-0 in quarter-finals on home soil and improved his season record to 26-16 — equalling his win tally from 2023, his first full year on the ATP Tour.
Cobolli was a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(2) winner against #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen. The 22-year-old Italian, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last November, saved five match points against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round to reach his first ATP 500 quarter-final. He is now through to his second tour-level semi-final overall, after reaching that stage in Geneva in May.
Cobolli is up six places this week to No. 42 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting himself up for a career high. He will crack the Top 40 with one more win and will enter the Top 30 with his first title.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will go head-to-head in the Olympic Tennis Event singles gold medal match on Sunday, with the match scheduled for not before 2 p.m. CEST/8 a.m. EDT.
Djokovic and Alcaraz, Nos. 2 and 3 respectively in the PIF ATP Rankings, recently met in the Wimbledon final, where the Spaniard defeated his older rival for the second consecutive year. Their Lexus ATP Head2Head series is level at 3-3.
Djokovic won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Alcaraz, who is making his Olympics debut, is looking to extended his rich vein of form, which as seen him win Roland Garros and Wimbledon coming into the Olympics.
View Alcaraz vs. Djokovic Lexus ATP Head2Head breakdown
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Emma Raducanu is beaten by Paula Badosa in three sets as she is knocked out of the Washington Open in the quarter-finals.
Watch highlights as Serbia’s “brilliant” Novak Djokovic wins his semi-final match against Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti to reach the men’s singles final on day seven of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova rallied from the brink of defeat to claim the mixed doubles gold medal for Czechia at the Paris Olympics.
The Czechs trailed Chinese duo Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen 6/8 in a dramatic match tie-break but after clawing back to 8-all, welcomed a double fault from Zhang that set up match point. The former off-court couple sealed gold when Machac’s fierce service return drew a volleying error from Wang, who earlier in the set had made a number of clutch poach volleys for winners.
[ATP APP]Both playing mixed doubles at the Olympics for the first time, Machac and Siniakova became the first Czechia team to win the mixed doubles gold with their 6-2, 5-7, 10-8 victory.
Siniakova collected her second gold medal, having won the women’s doubles gold in Tokyo with Barbora Krejcikova.
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/08/02/17/58/felix-mixed-doubles-bronze.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski on their way to collecting mixed doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics.” />
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski on their way to collecting mixed doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics. Photo: AFP/Getty Images
Earlier in the day, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski won the mixed doubles bronze medal with a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs Friday.
The Canadian pair looked headed for a comfortable win after leading 6-3, 3-0, before Koolhof and Schuurs rallied to extended the second set to a tie-break. But the Canadians steadied to become the second players from their nation to win an Olympic medal following the gold medal success of Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor in Sydney in 2000.
Auger-Aliassime, who earlier in the day lost his singles semi-final to Carlos Alcaraz, No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings, will have a shot at a second bronze medal when he plays the loser of tonight’s Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti semi-final.
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Novak Djokovic has set a blockbuster gold medal match with Carlos Alcaraz at the Paris Olympics Sunday after defeating Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 in Friday’s semi-finals.
A 98-time tour-level titlist who has spent more than eight years atop the PIF ATP Rankings, Djokovic is guaranteed to improve upon his previous best Olympics outing, a singles bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing games. The 37-year-old fell on the red clay in relief when he secured his place in his first Olympic final.
“I have been waiting for this for almost 20 years,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I’ve played four Olympic games, this is my fifth and I’ve never passed semi-finals. I lost three semi-finals in my first four Olympic games. I managed to overcome this big hurdle. I must be honest and say that I was thinking about all the semi-finals that I lost.”
[ATP APP]Despite right knee injury concerns following Thursday’s quarter-final, Djokovic showed no obvious signs of hindered movement. The top seed wore the same grey knee sleeve he has been wearing throughout the tournament and at last month’s Wimbledon.
Djokovic and Musetti faced fierce opposition on serve throughout the match. The seven-time Nitto ATP Finals champion was pushed to deuce in his opening two service games and had four break points of his own at 2-1, but the 22-year-old Musetti held in a lengthy five-deuce game.
The Belgrade native later earned a decisive break at 5-4, tallying five consecutive points from 0/40 to win the opening set.
“I just tried to be in the present moment. I played against a player who is in great form and really came out firing from both ends,” Djokovic said. “I just tried to maintain the focus and do what I have to do.”
Novak WILL battle for gold! 🇷🇸😍@DjokerNole defeats Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2 in #Paris2024 to reach his first Olympic tennis singles final ❗️#Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/tQGg8cWiny
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 2, 2024
The first four games of a topsy-turvy second set featured as many breaks. An animated Djokovic grew frustrated with uncharacteristic errors, two of which came while down break point. Aiming for his first title of 2024, Djokovic won four consecutive games from 2-2 to advance.
“Second set, I started, I was very, very nervous just overall,” Djokovic said. “Before the match, during the match, just so, so nervous. But so glad to overcome this hurdle and secure a medal for my country.”
Alcaraz, who earlier raced past Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-1, won his most recent meeting against Djokovic. The Spaniard downed the 24-time major champion in the Wimbledon final, a repeat result from 2023. Their Lexus ATP Head2Head series is tied at 3-3.
Djokovic is the oldest men’s singles finalist since tennis returned to Olympics in Seoul 1988. Alcaraz is the youngest to achieve that same feat.
“I’ve achieved a lot of great things in this sport, but never finals of an Olympic games, so I’m super thrilled,” Djokovic said. “I hope I brought the joy to Serbian fans and people around the world and in also in Serbia. Of course I’m going to think about Alcaraz in the final tomorrow, but I’m also grateful to have a day off. I’m going to need one.”
World No. 16 Musetti will face Auger-Aliassime in the bronze medal match Saturday.
Did You Know?
Djokovic is aiming to become the fifth player, male or female, to complete the career ‘golden slam’, winning all four majors and an Olympic gold medal in singles. Stefanie Graf, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams have achieved the feat.
On Friday, Andy Murray began life as a retired tennis player. BBC Sport looks at how he will spend the near future and what the longer term might hold.
Sir Andy Murray sits down with Sir Chris Hoy to reflect on his historic tennis career ,which ended with defeat in the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 men’s doubles on Thursday.