ITALIAN Lorenzo Musetti is through to the Paris Olympics semi-finals, all while denying reigning men’s singles gold medallist Alexander Zverev a shot at back-to-back golds. Zverev won the top gong in Tokyo, but has fallen in the last stage before the medal rounds with Musetti getting up in a tight 7-5 7-5 contest on Court Suzanne Leglen.

In a two-hour and four-minute match, Musetti was able to break three times to one in limited opportunities for both players. Zverev’s usual dominant first serve was off, dropping to a percentage of just 63, though he still won 74.4 per cent of points off it, though Musetti kept similar numbers with a higher win percentage of 81, off a slightly lower 61 per cent clip.

Musetti’s second serve win percentage of 61.5 per cent compared to Zverev’s 52.4 per cent was key, as was the German only serving four aces and hitting eight winners. By comparison, Musetti serve three aces and hit 19 winners, while producing 11 less unforced errors in the time (18-29).

The Italian forced Zverev to come to the net far more than he would have liked, with the German successful 62 per cent of the time (18/29), while Musetti largely played deeper in the court but won eight of nine upon approach. In the end, Musetti’s greater consistency on serve and taking his break point opportunities when they came, was the difference.

His task of winning gold does not get any easier in the semi-finals though, taking on world number two and top seed, Serbian Novak Djokovic. The 24-time Grand Slam winner defeated eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets 6-3 7-6, despite receiving on-court treatment for his knee. A gold medal is a rare blip on Djokovic’s illustrious CV that he hopes to fill in what many expect is his last Olympics.

In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Carlos Alcaraz kept his great form up, winning in the same way as Djokovic with a 6-3 7-6 victory over American Tommy Paul. Though challenged at times, the Roland Garros reigning champion proved too good on the French clay, closing out the match in a second set tiebreaker.

Alcaraz now faces surprise semi-finalist, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. Though not known for his claycourt work, Auger-Aliassime knocked off clay court specialist Casper Ruud in the only three-setter of the day. The 13th seed rolled the sixth seeded Norwegian 6-4 6-7 6-3 to give himself a 75 per cent chance of a medal.

Auger-Aliassime and Alcaraz are up first at 9:30pm AEST, followed by Djokovic and Musetti in the late match.

MEN’S SINGLES RESULTS: QUARTER FINALS

[1] Novak Djokoic (SRB) defeated [8] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 6-3 7-6
[2] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) defeated [9] Tommy Paul (USA) 6-3 7-6
[11] Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) defeated [3] Alexander Zverev (GER) 7-5 7-5
[13] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated [6] Casper Ruud (NOR) 6-4 6-7 6-3

In the men’s doubles, a delay from earlier in the tournament meant just the one semi-final was completed, while the last of the quarter finals were locked in. American fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram continued their quest for gold without dropping a set, winning in comprehensive fashion over Czech duo Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek, 6-2 6-2.

They will await the winner of either Australian pair Matthew Ebden and John Peers, or countrymen singles combination, Taylor Fritz and Paul. Despite losing his singles to Alcaraz, Paul was able to team up with Fritz to officially end British Grand Slam winner Andy Murray‘s career, with Murray and Daniel Evans going down to the American duo in straight sets, 6-2 6-4.

The last semi-final starts at 10pm AEST to see whether Australia can stop the United States guaranteeing a gold and silver medal.

MEN’S DOUBLES RESULTS: SEMI-FINALS

[4] A. Krajicek/R. Ram (USA) defeated T. Machac/A. Pavlasek (CZE) 6-2 6-2

MEN’S DOUBLES RESULTS: QUARTER FINALS

[3] T. Paul/T. Fritz (USA) defeated D. Evans/A. Murray (GBR) 6-2 6-4