Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz to meet in gold medal match

The gold medal matchup for the men’s singles tennis bracket at the 2024 Paris Olympics is now set: top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia will face the second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.

In the first semifinal, Alcaraz took down No. 13 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada. In the second, Djokovic dispatched No. 11 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, setting the two top seeds on yet another collision course in a major final. That also means that Auger-Aliassime and Musetti will face each other in the bronze medal matchup.

Alcaraz and Djokovic have faced each other six times, with the pair splitting the meetings 3-3. They have played each other twice on clay courts, and split those meetings as well. Alcaraz is having a bigger 2024, and also bested Djokovic in the finals at Wimbledon just this year. Djokovic’s last win over Alcaraz came in November 2023 in Turin.

While Auger-Aliassime has been consistently among the top 20 players, few expected him in the semifinal — he has only made it to the semifinal of a single Grand Slam, the 2021 US Open. Alcaraz wasted no time in getting through his opponent on Friday, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Alcaraz converted on 88 percent of his second serve attempts, and converted on five of nine break points in his dominant victory.

Alcaraz has generally been considered the favorite to win, especially when top players like Jannik Sinner (injury), Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev all fell by the end of the quarterfinals. Both Ruud and Medvedev came up against Auger-Aliassime and both fell, though Ruud pushed him to three sets.

All of that has worked out well for Alcaraz, who downed Tommy Paul, the final remaining American, in the quarterfinals before cruising past Auger-Aliassime. He’s also riding a ton of momentum from having won the French Open title on these very clay courts at Roland Garros in June. After that, he took his second consecutive title at Wimbledon, and also bested Djokovic in the process. He’s the man to beat, even if he’s not the top seed, as has been the case all tournament.

Djokovic came into the tournament without an Olympic gold medal to his name. The 37-year-old Serb has more Grand Slam singles titles to his name than anybody else with 24, and has won on the clay of Roland Garros three times, most recently in 2023. He’s dealt with injuries and hasn’t taken any of the Grand Slams in 2024, the first time since 2017 that has happened.

Musetti, 22, was a surprise semifinalist after dispatching the defending 2020 Olympics champion in Zverev. Going into the Olympics, Musetti was ranked 16th in the world, and was coming off his best showing in a Grand Slam to date: a semifinals appearance at Wimbledon.

He pushed Djokovic in their meeting, with both players scoring multiple breaks in the second set, but ultimately he was unable to seal the deal and fell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Musetti and Auger-Aliassime will play in the bronze medal match on Saturday, before the women’s singles gold medal match between Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic. Then the men’s gold match between Djokovic and Alcaraz is set for Sunday.

Men’s singles medal matchups at the 2024 Olympics

Bronze medal: No. 11 Lorenzo Musetti vs. No. 13 Felix Auger-Aliassime
Gold medal: No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz