Félix Auger-Aliassime is just one win away from becoming an Olympic medallist.
The 23-year-old was back on the court at Paris’ Roland Garros Stadium on Friday for the men’s singles semifinal to face Carlos Alcaraz, his toughest competitor yet.
While the players traded games to start the match, the Canadian star was unable to get the upper hand on the Spanish phenom (No. 2 on the ATP rankings), ultimately losing his ticket to the gold medal match in two sets (6-1, 6-1).
Auger-Aliassime, 23, has played a ton of tennis this week, beating Daniel Medvedev on Wednesday, Casper Ruud on Thursday, and rejoining mixed doubles partner Gabby Dabrowski for multiple matches.
Canada’s looking to add its first Olympic podium appearance in nearly three decades. The country’s sole Olympic tennis medal was won by Sébastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor, who won the men’s doubles event at the 2000 Sydney Games, defeating the heavily favoured Australian team.
Auger-Aliassime will have two chances to make that happen.
His first will come Friday when he and Dabrowksi take on Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands in the battle for bronze.
Then, on Saturday, he will play the loser of today’s semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti for bronze before the gold medal match takes place.