Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada celebrates after winning his match against Casper Ruud of Norway at the Roland-Garros Stadium, Paris, on August 1, 2024 at the Paris Olympics.Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Félix Auger-Aliassime is going somewhere no Canadian singles player has been in a modern Olympic Games – into the final four.
By upsetting two top-10 seeds in as many days, the 23-year-old Montrealer has earned a semi-final showdown with Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz in Paris on Friday. That’s when the last four men will play to solidify their spots in the gold- and bronze-medal matches.
The Canadian charges into the semis on the strength of two impressive wins in the punishing heat at Roland Garros.
Auger-Aliassime, seeded No. 13 in the Olympic singles draw, beat No. 6 Casper Ruud of Norway on Thursday 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3.
It came just one day after the Canadian upset fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (5) – his first over the former world No. 1 after the two had met seven times previously.
Auger-Aliassime has a shot at two medals in Paris. Less than an hour after beating Ruud on Thursday afternoon, he and Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski lost their semi-final match to Czechia’s Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova. 6-3, 6-3. The Canadian duo will play for bronze on Friday.
Auger-Aliassime is already having Canada’s best Olympic showing in tennis singles since the sport returned to the Olympic program at Seoul 1988.
“It’s great, but it’s not over yet,” said Auger-Aliassime, rushing from his singles match to play mixed doubles with less than an hour’s rest. “It’s been a long week, a lot of matches. So I’ve got to stay calm. I’ve got to try to rest in between the matches and, and just give everything every point until the end.”
Over five days in Paris, he has played eight matches – four singles, three mixed-doubles matches and one men’s-doubles match with Milos Raonic. Dabrowski has played five matches, including two in women’s doubles with Leylah Fernandez.
Canada’s lone Olympic tennis medal is a gold in men’s doubles, won by Daniel Nestor and Sébastien Lareau at Sydney 2000. Nestor came close again at Rio 2016, when he and Vasek Pospisil lost the bronze-medal match.
Canada has sent tennis players to every Olympic Games since the sport was reinstated into the program in 1988. The sport was in the first modern Games in Athens 1896, but discontinued after Paris 1924.
For 32-year-old Dabrowski, this is her third Olympics. Her previous best finish was ninth.
This is the second Olympic experience for Auger-Aliassime. He lost the opening round in Tokyo three years ago, in both men’s singles, and mixed doubles with Dabrowski.
They will play for bronze in mixed doubles on Friday against Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands.
Auger-Aliassime was dealing with cramps in the mixed-doubles semi, and was disappointed they lost the match. He wants Dabrowski to get a medal.
“It would be well-deserved for her,” he said. “I need to recover and see how I can push one more time and try to get that bronze medal. I think it would be amazing for me, but I want to do it for Gabby.”
Auger-Aliassime’s singles latest win, against Ruud, was a tough one, under the roof at Suzanne-Lenglen. The Canadian had silenced the crowd when he cruised in the first set, but the noise swelled as Ruud charged back in the second, and slogged through point-for-point to win a tiebreak.
Both men escaped the heat for a toilet break before the third. Refreshed by an ice towel, the Montrealer got an early break in the final set, seized the momentum and then finished the job.
The other men’s semi-final will pit No.1-seeded Novak Djokovic of against Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti (11).
Winners of those two semis will play for gold; the losers will play for bronze.
Auger-Aliassime has a 3-3 record against Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed in Paris. The 21-year-old Spaniard is fresh off his victory at Wimbledon last month. He won the previous Grand Slam, too – his maiden French Open title in June, looking unbeatable on the clay at Roland Garros.