Carlos Alcaraz gets past Roman Safiullin in straight sets to advance into Paris Olympics quarterfinals

Carlos Alcaraz will next play USA's Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals.

Carlos Alcaraz gets past Roman Safiullin in straight sets to advance into Paris Olympics quarterfinals

Carlos Alcaraz (Image via Imago)

Carlos Alcaraz scripted history yet again when he broke Novak Djokovic‘s record by becoming the youngest player to reach the Olympics quarterfinals at the age of 21. The Serbian achieved this feat in 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he won the bronze medal.

Alcaraz, who is featuring in his first Olympics, beat Roman Safiullin on Court Suzanne Lenglen 6-4, 6-2 in the third round on Wednesday (July 31). As expected, Alcaraz dominated the Russian, who is playing as a neutral player because of the IOC’s ban on Russia and Belarus.

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Safiullin tried to make a comeback in the first set but had no weapons at his disposal to shift the momentum and challenge the four-time Grand Slam champion. Alcaraz then quickly finished the match by restricting the 26-year-old to just two games in the second set. He will next play USA’s Tommy Paul.

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The 27-year-old American eliminated Frenchman Corentin Moutet 7-6(7-5), 6-3 to set up the clash with Alcaraz. Though the Spaniard has not yet struggled much in Paris, he dealt with fitness issues during his second-round match against Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor.

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Carlos Alcaraz vs Tommy Paul: Head-to-head record

Carlos Alcaraz has faced World No. 13 Tommy Paul five times and played close matches against him. The 21-year-old leads 3-2 in their head-to-head record. In their first clash in 2022 Canadian Open, it was Paul who emerged as the winner in three sets.

Carlos Alcaraz (2)
Carlos Alcaraz (Image via Imago)

Their next three encounters again came in ATP 1000 Masters events (in Miami, Canada, and Cincinnati). The last time they locked horns with each other was in 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinal. Alcaraz knocked out the American in four sets, after which, he took home his second Wimbledon trophy by beating seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

But before meeting Paul, Alcaraz is scheduled to play doubles quarterfinals with Rafael Nadal on Wednesday (July 31) against the American pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.

Alcaraz is the favorite to win the title in both singles and doubles after his two back-to-back Grand Slam victories (at French Open and Wimbledon). The 38-year-old Nadal, who has won Olympic gold medals in singles (Beijing Games) and doubles (Rio Games), played in the singles this year and was eliminated in the second round by Djokovic.

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