Carlos Alcaraz was pushed hard on Thursday, but he found a way around Tommy Paul to continue his quest for Olympic glory. The Spaniard recovered from a slump at the beginning of the second set to overcome the American 6-3, 7-6(7) to reach the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics, guaranteeing him a chance to play for a medal.
The 21-year-old second seed entered the match on the back of three consecutive straight-sets wins but was tested by Paul, who had defeated Alacraz twice previously beat Alcaraz.
Wearing Spain’s red and yellow colours, Alcaraz was dialled in during the first set and mounted a remarkable comeback from 2-5 in the second to seal a sensational win in the tie-break on his second match point to become the fifth Spaniard to reach the men’s singles semi-finals since the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Alcaraz will now face either Norway’s Casper Ruud or Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals after becoming the youngest semi-finalist in the men’s singles event since Novak Djokovic in Beijing in 2008.