Félix Auger-Aliassime is one step closer to Olympic gold in Paris.
Coming off an upset victory against Daniel Medvedev on Wednesday, the 23-year-old Canadian was back on the clay court of Roland Garros on Thursday for the quarterfinal.
Going head-to-head with Norway’s Casper Ruud (No. 9 on ATP rankings), Auger-Aliassime was once again the underdog in the Olympic matchup. But he sure didn’t show it.
The first set was tight, but the 19th seed claimed it by a 6-4 score. The Montreal native hit his stride early in the second, but Ruud maintained his composure, winning a lengthy tiebreak.
However, Auger-Aliassime ultimately sealed the deal in the third and final set (6-3), logging 14 aces and 37 unforced errors in the match.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has scored another upset in Paris. He’s into the semi-finals.
Felix will become the first Canadian to ever play for a medal in men’s singles tennis at the Olympics. pic.twitter.com/6svcXHgGgW
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) August 1, 2024
Having secured a place in the fourth round, Auger-Aliassime could potentially earn Canada’s first-ever singles tennis medal at the Summer Games.
Canada’s sole Olympic tennis medal was achieved by Sébastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor, who won the men’s doubles event at the 2000 Sydney Games, defeating the heavily favoured Australian team.
Unfortunately, he won’t be granted much recovery time as he and mixed doubles partner Gaby Dabrowski play the Czech duo of Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova on Thursday afternoon.
On the singles circuit, Auger-Aliassime will face No. 2 seed Carlos Alacaraz in the semifinal on Friday.