Day 7 features semifinal, bronze medal, and gold medal matches across all five disciplines.
Novak Djokovic is 0-4 in Olympic semifinals, and 0-3 in men’s singles specifically. On Friday, he tries to reverse the most frustrating streak of his entire career, and reach his first gold medal match. Djokovic faces Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, in a rematch from the Wimbledon semifinals just three weeks ago. The winner will play either Carlos Alcaraz or Felix Auger-Aliassime, in a semifinal where their head-to-head is tied at 3-3.
Iga Swiatek suffered a shocking loss on Thursday to Qinwen Zheng, and unlike other tennis tournaments, she has to turn around the very next day to play again, and with a bronze medal on the line. Swiatek will take on Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, with the loser missing the podium altogether.
And medals of all three colors will be given out on Friday in mixed doubles, with both the gold and bronze medal matches to be staged. Plus, Day 7 hosts three semifinals across men’s and women’s doubles.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Friday’s play begins at 12:00pm local time.
Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday in Paris (twitter.com/itftennis)
Felix Auger-Aliassime [CAN] (13) vs. Carlos Alcaraz [ESP] (2) – 1:30pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Alcaraz is yet to drop a set through four rounds, and is on an 11-match winning streak in singles, as well as an 11-match winning streak in singles at this venue specifically. He was tested by Tommy Paul during their quarterfinal on Thursday, but erased a second-set deficit to prevail 9-7 in the tiebreak.
Auger-Aliassime dropped his first set of the tournament to Casper Ruud on Thursday, in a second-set tiebreak of his own where he even held match point. Yet Felix recovered fabulously, comfortably taking the third set 6-3. That was his second top 10 victory in as many days, after beating Daniil Medvedev in the third round.
The Canadian claimed their first three meetings, though the Spaniard has claimed the last three, which includes a straight-set win two months ago at this same venue, where Alcaraz only allowed Auger-Aliassime seven games. Their other five meetings were all on hard courts.
This surface certainly favors the reigning French Open champion, and a peaking Carlitos is the solid favorite on Friday. But as many have highlighted, Felix has played some of the best tennis of his career when representing his country, winning titles for Canada in Davis Cup and the ATP Cup. And as we’ve seen this past week, Olympic tennis always provides some shocking results, as different players react differently to the pressure of winning a medal for their country.
Lorenzo Musetti this week in Paris (twitter.com/itftennis)
Novak Djokovic [SRB] (1) vs. Lorenzo Musetti [ITA] (11) – 7:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
The biggest factor in this semifinal will be the condition of Novak’s knee. He reaggravated his surgically-repaired knee during Thursday night’s quarterfinal against Stefanos Tsitsipas, and said after the match he would seek medical evaluation to assess the damage. Regardless, Djokovic also promised he planned to take to the court no matter what, as winning a medal for Serbia remains the highest priority in his career.
Musetti owns a victory over Djokovic, which came last year on clay in Monte Carlo. He’s also twice pushed Novak to five sets at Roland Garros, including two months ago. But overall Lorenzo has lost six of their seven meetings, and in July’s Wimbledon semifinal, he failed to take a set off Novak.
However, the past two months have featured the best tennis of Musetti’s career, with 12 wins on grass, his first Major semifinal, a run to the final of Umag last week, and now four straight-set wins in Paris. Lorenzo has not dropped a set to this stage, and was extremely sharp in strong victories over considerable opposition the last two days (Fritz, Zverev).
If Djokovic is anywhere near 100% physically, he’s the favorite. But if he’s not, Musetti is playing with enough confidence to bring Novak’s record in Olympic semifinals to 0-5.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini on Thursday in Paris (twitter.com/itftennis)
Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova [CZE] vs. Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini [ITA] (3) – This is a women’s doubles semifinal. Muchova and Noskova have been extremely clutch during this event, winning three consecutive deciding-set tiebreaks, and saving match point on Thursday. Errani and Paolini are looking to reach a second straight final at this venue, after becoming French Open finalists two months ago.
Matthew Ebden and John Peers [AUS] vs. Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul [USA] (3) – This is a men’s doubles semifinal. The winners will face Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the gold medal match. Both teams are yet to drop a set, with the Americans notably eliminating Dan Evans and Andy Murray on Thursday, bringing an end to Murray’s career.
Iga Swiatek [POL] (1) vs. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova [SVK] – Swiatek’s 25-match win streak at this venue was snapped on Thursday, and after sharing some poor excuses regarding her form following that match, she plays one of the biggest matches of her life on Friday. But a match of this importance is brand new territory for Schmiedlova, as she’s never even played in a WTA final above 250 level. This will be their first career meeting.
Gabriela Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime [CAN] vs. Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof [NED] – This is the mixed doubles bronze medal match, and will be Auger-Aliassime’s second match of the day. He is the only prominent singles player in this matchup, surrounded by three elite doubles players.
Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo [ESP] (8) vs. Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider [AIN] – This is a women’s doubles semifinal. Bucsa and Sorribes Tormo survived an extended deciding-set tiebreak on Thursday, while Andreeva and Shnaider upset the defending gold medalists, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac [CZE] vs. Xinyu Wang and Zhizhen Zhang [CHN] – This is the gold medal match in mixed doubles. Siniakova is the standout doubles player in this contest, as she is a nine-time Major champion in women’s doubles, and has claimed the last two Majors with two different partners.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
