Auger-Aliassime upsets Medvedev to become 1st Canadian to reach Olympic singles quarters
Rafael Nadal's Olympics end in doubles loss with Carlos Alcaraz
Montreal's Félix Auger-Aliassime wore a beaming smile after his third-round men's singles victory, which only grew wider following his mixed-doubles win with Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Auger-Aliassime not only advanced to the men's quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over the formidable Daniil Medvedev, but also joined forces with doubles ace Dabrowski to defeat the third-seeded American duo of Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz 7-6, 3-6 (10-8), earning a berth in the mixed-doubles semifinal.
The 23-year-old from Montreal clinched his first victory in eight encounters with Medvedev, a Russian competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete in Paris, with a win that took one hour and 38 minutes at Roland Garros.
"Obviously, at the start, sometimes, you are not sure what to expect. It was a tricky first game, 30-30, you are a bit tense, but I was able to get through that with good serving and that kept going," said Auger-Aliassime, who fired nine aces to Medvedev's five.
The 23-year-old from Montreal won in one hour 38 minutes for his first victory against the Russian, who was competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete in Paris.
"It felt like it was a great match, great level from both sides. Unfortunately, it was a day when Felix played very well and I still had chances in the second set, but I didn't use them," said Medvedev. "Unfortunately, this is how tennis is sometimes."
In the next round, Auger-Aliassime will play No. 6 Casper Ruud of Norway, who defeated Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 6-4.
Auger-Aliassime and Dabrowski will play the Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac, who defeated Japan's Ena Shibahara and Kei Nishikori 7-5, 6-2 on Wednesday.
Auger-Aliassime lost in the first round at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
'I think that was the mentality'
Against Medvedev, Auger-Aliassime was helped by a strong return game. He also continued to excel on his serve, not giving up any break points to his opponent for the third consecutive match.
"Overall, I think with the conditions being hot, obviously he would make me work. He was serving well as well, I was thinking `Look, just take every serve, don't get too frustrated if you are not getting your chances on the return. If you are missing a few shots, do not get frustrated. Just focus on what's good, focus on holding your serve' which I was doing well," he said.
Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, took the loss in stride.
"But it's OK, it's tennis. When you lose you are frustrated, but I did not hurt anyone, so it's OK," he said.
In women's doubles, No. 5 seeds Leylah Annie Fernandez of Laval, Que., and Dabrowski were eliminated in the second round, losing 6-4, 6-0 to the neutral duo of Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider,
Nadal's Olympics end in doubles loss with Alcaraz
Rafael Nadal's Paris Games — and, almost certainly, his Olympic career — ended Wednesday night when he and Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated in the men's doubles quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to the fourth-seeded American duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
The match was played at Court Philippe Chatrier, the same stadium where Nadal has won his record 14 French Open titles, part of his haul of 22 Grand Slam trophies. The full house roared and sang to support Nadal and Alcaraz — well, mainly Nadal — especially as they tried to stave off defeat in the final game.
The 38-year-old Nadal has not announced anything about his plans or possible retirement, but given his age and recent history of injuries, an appearance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics seems far-fetched. He might not even compete at all beyond the Paris Games, but that is far less clear.
Nadal won gold medals for Spain in singles at Beijing in 2008 and in doubles at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. This time around, he was defeated in singles on Monday by rival Novak Djokovic.
Rafa Nadal just played likely his last ever match at the Olympics. <br><br>Carlos Alcaraz puts his hand on his back as they walk out of the stadium.<br><br>Thank you for everything, Rafa. 🥹💔 <a href="https://t.co/NHGl1TIEmz">pic.twitter.com/NHGl1TIEmz</a>
—@TheTennisLetterThe doubles outcome seemed pretty much decided when Ram smacked a return winner off a serve by Alcaraz to break him at love and lead 4-3 in the second set. The Spaniards thought the ball landed out and bent down to get closer to the clay while arguing their case with French chair umpire Morgane Lara. But the call did not change.
Still, Nadal never has been one to concede a thing, and so it was fitting that he and Alcaraz earned a break point, a chance to extend the evening, as Krajicek tried to serve out the victory. Didn't happen for the Spaniards, though, and soon Alcaraz and Nadal were hugging on one side of the net — and Ram and Krajicek were doing the same on the other.
Nadal paused for a moment before stepping through the doorway that leads toward the locker room, and Alcaraz placed his right hand on his partner's left shoulder.
Nadal and Alcaraz are not frequent doubles players — indeed, this was their first event as a pair.
They do, however, own a combined 26 Grand Slam singles titles. Alcaraz has four, including this year's French Open in June, then Wimbledon in July.
Djokovic continues quest for 1st Olympic gold
In men's action, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic defeated Dominik Koepfer of Germany 7-5, 6-3 to get to the Olympics quarterfinals for the fourth time. Djokovic won a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games, but never has won a gold.
Djokovic now meets Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in a rematch of the 2021 French Open final. Tsitsipas took the first two sets that day, before Djokovic came back to win in five.
Olympics tennis uses a best-of-three-set format for all matches.
In other men's third-round results, Tommy Paul of the U.S. was a 7-6 (6), 6-3 winner against Corentin Moutet of France — the last tennis player from the host country in any Olympic event — and Taylor Fritz of the U.S. got knocked out of singles by Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-4, 7-5.
Entering Wednesday, Fritz was the only tennis player still in contention in three events, and he was scheduled to play three matches, including mixed doubles with Gauff and men's doubles with Paul.
Wimbledon champ Krejcikova ousted
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic bowed out of singles at the Paris Olympics with a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Schmiedlova has now eliminated both women who played in the final at the All England Club only 2 1/2 weeks ago. She defeated Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini in the third round Tuesday, and now is the first tennis semifinalist from Slovakia at a Summer Games since 1988.
Krejcikova was seeded ninth in Paris and has fared well on the clay courts at Roland Garros, which hosts the French Open and is the facility being used for tennis at these Olympics. Her first Grand Slam singles championship came at the French Open in 2021, when she also won the doubles title.
But with the heat at 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) and the air thick with humidity, Krejcikova looked listless down the stretch against Schmiedlova, a 29-year-old who is ranked 67th and owns one fourth-round appearance at a Slam. That came last year at Roland Garros.
The two players accumulated nearly the exact same number of winners, with 18 for Krejcikova and 17 for Schmiedlova. But here's what was pivotal: the big difference in unforced errors — 32 by Krejcikova, more than twice was many as Schmiedlova's 15.
That included five double-faults for Krejcikova, who needed to deal with 11 break points and lost five of her service games.
Next for Schmiedlova will be a match Thursday against Donna Vekic of Croatia — who beat Coco Gauff in the third round — or Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, with a place in the gold medal final on the line.
No. 1 Iga Swiatek gets hit by a ball, but secures win
Iga Swiatek dropped to her knees on the court and clutched at her midsection after getting hit by a ball during a point in the Paris Olympics singles quarterfinals Wednesday, but it was her opponent, Danielle Collins of the United States, who stopped playing later in the third set.
Swiatek was leading 6-2, 1-6, 4-1 when Collins retired from the match after taking a medical timeout, then getting another visit from a trainer. It was not immediately clear what was wrong with Collins.
With files from The Associated Press' Howard Fendrich and CBC Sports
