Canada's Auger-Aliassime to play Alcaraz in men's singles semis after topping Ruud
Auger-Aliassime, Ottawa's Dabrowski drop semifinal, to play for mixed doubles bronze
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Norway's Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of men's tennis singles at the Paris Olympics.
The 23-year-old Canadian is now guaranteed to compete for a medal in both men's singles and mixed doubles.
"These are beautiful emotions. It's incredible to experience a moment like this, but I've worked hard to get here," Auger-Aliassime said after his victory over Ruud. "It's great that it pays off in moments like these."
He is set to face Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Tommy Paul of the U.S. in their quarterfinal 6-3, 7-6 (7), in Friday's singles semifinal.
"I hope to be in shape and recover well tonight," Auger-Aliassime said. "I need to put everything in place to win. I need to play an almost perfect match."
Ruud, a two-time French Open finalist, had won three of his five previous meetings with Auger-Aliassime. However, he had lost their most recent encounter on clay in Barcelona this spring.
In mixed doubles, Auger-Aliassime and Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski will play the Dutch duo of Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof for a bronze medal on Friday.
The Canadians dropped Thursday's semifinal to the Czechia's Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-3.
Canada has won only one Olympic tennis medal, when Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor triumphed in men's doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Semifinals are set
Novak Djokovic overcame problems with his surgically repaired right knee at the Paris Olympics on Thursday night and erased a big deficit in the second set to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (3) and reach the Summer Games' semifinals for the fourth time as he tries to collect his first gold medal.
Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia with 24 Grand Slam titles, will face Lorenzo Musetti of Italy on Friday for a berth in the final.
Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the Olympic singles semifinals since Djokovic in 2008 by getting past Tommy Paul of the U.S. 6-3, 7-6 (7).
No. 1 Iga Swiatek loses to Zheng Qinwen of China
Iga Swiatek knew she was capable, or at least should be, of winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. She's ranked No. 1, after all. Owns five Grand Slam titles, including four on the red clay courts at Roland Garros, which hosts the French Open and is being used for Summer Games matches.
Zheng managed to make it happen, eliminating Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 and earning the right to play for gold on Saturday, then falling on her back and caking her red-and-yellow uniform with the rust-coloured clay.
"It really does mean everything. I always knew I could do it. But it's different (if) you know you can — and you show it. And today, I really showed it," said the 21-year-old Zheng, whose best career result was reaching the final of the Australian Open in January before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
"I'm so proud of myself," she added. "I'm so proud for my country."
Murray heads into retirement after doubles loss
Andy Murray's professional tennis career ended with a Paris Olympics doubles loss in the quarterfinals Thursday night.
The 37-year-old Murray had said the 2024 Summer Games would the final event of his career, and he and partner Dan Evans were beaten by the American duo of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-4 at Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The British pair had managed to stave off a total of seven match points — well, in this case, let's call them "retirement points" — earlier in the tournament, five in the first round, and then two more in the second round, to extend Murray's career.
Farewell, Sir Andy Murray<br><br>Five-time Olympian, three-time Olympic medallist and British sporting legend. <a href="https://t.co/smjNrY5uwg">pic.twitter.com/smjNrY5uwg</a>
—@TeamGBBut Murray and Evans could not create that sort of magic again against the third-seeded Fritz and Paul.
He also won the title at the All England Club in 2016; his first major championship came at the U.S. Open in 2012.
Murray has dealt with a series of injuries in the latter stages of his career, including needing two hip operations, one for a metal implant in 2019. Most recently, he had surgery to remove a cyst from his spine last month.
That forced him to skip the singles events at Wimbledon and the Olympics.
