2024 Paris Olympics Day 8: Djokovic To Meet Alcaraz Sunday; Vekic v Zheng For Gold

For the second time in the last month Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will meet with history on the line. They battled for Wimbledon last month, and now it’s a first gold medal for one these greats.

Alcaraz ripped through Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-1, 6-1 to cruise in the final match. In the evening, Djokovic had no signs of any right knee issues dispatching of Lorenzo Musetti in a tough two sets 6-2, 6-4. Musetti broke Djokovic twice in the second but couldn’t hold his own serve.

After four previous failed tries (three losses in the semifinals), Djokovic will finally play for gold.

“I’ve been waiting for this for almost 20 years. I’ve played four Olympic games, this is my fifth and I’ve never been past the semifinals,” he told NBC. “I lost three semifinals in my first four Olympic games. I managed to overcome this big hurdle. I must be honest and say that I was thinking about all the semifinals that I lost.

“I’ve achieved a lot of great things in this sport, but never finals of an Olympic games, so I’m super thrilled,” he added. “I hope I brought the joy to Serbian fans and people around the world and in also in Serbia. Of course I’m going to think about Alcaraz in the final tomorrow, but I’m also grateful to have a day off. I’m going to need one.”

That showdown, their seventh with the two splitting the previous six, will take place Sunday in Paris.

Saturday will see the women’s singles gold medal awarded. Donna Vekic and Qinwen Zheng, two players who have had breakout Slams this year, are in the surprise final matchup.

Vekic just made the Wimbledon final while Zheng defended her Palermo title. Both top seeds, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, are out because of them.

Swiatek, collected her bronze easing past Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1. Swiatek’s dad competed in rowing in 1988 but fell short of a medal. So this was extra sweet.

“It’s amazing. Honestly me and my sister were raised in this spirit that the Olympics are the most important tournament,” she said. “That’s why it wasn’t the easiest tournament. This makes it even better.”

“I’m proud of myself I could do it. I’m happy [my Dad] was here to see it. This is for sure a great place for me to be and play. I’m happy that besides Roland Garros titles, I could add another success to it.”

Also on Friday, the mixed doubles gold went to the Czech team of Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac who edged the Chinese squad of Xinyu Wang and Zhizhen Zhang 6-2, 5-7 [10-8].

SATURDAY PARIS OLYMPICS SCHEDULE
Court Philippe-Chatrier
starting at 12:00
GOLD EBDEN / PEERS (AUS) vs (4) KRAJICEK / RAM (USA)
not before 13:30
BRONE (3) FRITZ / PAUL (USA) vs MACHAC / PAVLASEK (CZE)
not before 15:30
GOLD (6) ZHENG Qinwen (CHN) vs (13) VEKIC Donna (CRO)
BRONZE (13) AUGER-ALIASSIME Felix (CAN) vs (11) MUSETTI Lorenzo (ITA)