Russian Daniil Medvedev, the fourth seed, was derailed at the Olympic Games by Felix Auger Aliassime 6-3 and 7-6(3), becoming the first Canadian athlete, man or woman, to reach the quarterfinals of tennis.
Never has a victory been more timely than the one obtained by the American, who had played seven matches against the Muscovite, who plays in Paris 2024 as a neutral and under the Olympic flag, and had lost all seven. The first victory obtained in the head-to-head between the two allows Auger to access the quarter-finals of Paris 2024, on the verge of the fight for the medals.
Medvedev, who showed his lack of interest in clay, which he often openly proclaims, always went against the current despite the importance of the competition. He tried to react after clearly losing the first set but the Canadian held his own and took the second set to a tie-break, which he also won to seal the victory after one hour and 42 minutes, interrupted by rain.
In his second Olympic participation, Medvedev, apparently the main obstacle for Carlos Alcaraz on the way to the final, could not match his previous record, the quarter-finals of Tokyo 2020. Quite the opposite for Auger Aliassime who in his first Olympic experience already sees the fight for medals on the horizon. In the quarter-finals he will play against the winner of the clash between the Norwegian Casper Ruud.
Related news
Ruud submits Cerundo
Casper Ruud became the first Norwegian to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Olympic tennis tournament on Wednesday, after defeating the last Argentine, Francisco Cerúndolo, 6-3 and 6-4 in 1 hour and 20 minutes. The two-time Roland Garros finalist made the most of his experience on clay, where he has lifted the tournament in Barcelona and Geneva this season, and will face Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the semi-finals.
