Carlos Alcaraz celebrates match point. GETTY IMAGES

The Spanish tennis player wins a convincing victory over Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (6-1, 6-1). Spanish tennis was looking forward to the possibility of Alcaraz winning a medal by pairing up with Rafa Nadal, but he will be on the singles podium at Roland Garros.

Carlos Alcaraz has learned to glide over the clay in Paris. Roland Garros is the fetish tournament for Spanish tennis players, with champions such as Manolo Santana, Sergi Bruguera, Carlos Moyá and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Then came the empire of Rafa Nadal, champion in Paris 14 times. The baton has now fallen into the hands of Alcaraz.

The Spanish tennis player made his debut in Paris at the age of 17. Each year he arrived later and later at the tournament, until he won it in 2024, at the age of 21. On his way to glory came Felix Auger-Aliassime, in the fourth round. It was one of the most comfortable victories, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.




Today in the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament, Alcaraz brought out an aggressive and technically sensational version to go through to the last round without complications. The 6-1, 6-1 scoreline shows that the Canadian realised that his weapons were not enough to weaken his opponent. The match for the bronze medal in the mixed doubles was surely on the American's mind. In singles he will fight for the same metal.

Alcaraz has yet to lose a set in the singles tournament. He has won five matches with authority, and only twice has he had to resort to a tie-break to win a set, against Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the second round and Tommy Paul of the United States in the quarter-finals.

This year he has already succeeded Nadal as the Spanish winner at Roland Garros. On Sunday he will have the opportunity to do the same at the Olympic Games. Nadal is the only Spanish tennis player in history to have won an individual tennis gold medal, in Beijing 2008. That is the next challenge for Alcaraz.

Men's doubles final decided

Australia and the United States will play for gold in the men's doubles final on Saturday. The pair that eliminated Alcaraz and Nadal, Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, reached the final on Thursday, after a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Czechs Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek.

Matthew Ebden plays with John Peers during the Doubles Semifinal. GETTY IMAGES
Matthew Ebden plays with John Peers during the Doubles Semifinal. GETTY IMAGES

Today, Friday, the second semi-final was played. There was a possibility of an American final, but Australians Matthew Ebden and John Peers managed to avoid it. They beat Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-2. On Saturday, the matches for the three medals at Roland Garros will be played.