Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the singles semifinals at a Summer Games since Novak Djokovic in 2008 by getting past Tommy Paul of the U.S. 6-3, 7-6 (7) at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
Alcaraz, 21, of Spain, is just a few days older than Djokovic was 16 years ago in Beijing.
This is only the latest in a series of "youngest since" or "youngest ever" achievements for Alcaraz, who is coming off titles at the French Open -- which is held at Roland Garros, the same facility being used for the 2024 Paris Games -- in June and at Wimbledon in July.
Those trophies raised his Grand Slam trophy count to four. As it is, he was the youngest man with a major championship on hard, grass and clay courts. In 2022, he became the first teenager to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings, getting there after winning the U.S. Open.
In the semifinals Friday, Alcaraz will take on three-time major runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway or Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada. Their quarterfinal is later Thursday. The quarterfinals on the top half of the men's bracket were the now-37-year-old Djokovic of Serbia vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, and Tokyo Games champion Alexander Zverev of Germany vs. Lorenzo Musetti of Italy.
Alcaraz announced later Thursday that he has withdrawn from next week's Canadian Masters in Montreal.
Alcaraz said in a Tennis Canada statement as cited by Sports Central: "It has been a very long season for me and due to the accumulation of matches and fatigue, I will not be able to play in Montreal this year. "I was really looking forward to coming back to Canada and enjoying the love of the fans. Hope to see everyone in Montreal in the years to come!"
Alcaraz and Paul, whose best showing at a major was a semifinal run at the 2023 Australian Open, are developing a bit of a rivalry. Alcaraz is now 5-2 head-to-head, which includes defeating Paul a few weeks ago in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
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