Lorenzo Musetti Clinches Olympic Bronze Medal in Paris 2024 With Victory Over Felix Auger-Aliassime
Lorenzo Musetti defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in an exciting 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 triumph to win Italy’s first tennis medal at the Olympics in a century.
After a nail-biting match on Saturday at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Lorenzo Musetti defeated Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 to become the first Italian to win a medal in men’s singles for the first time in a century.
After more than two hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Musetti, seeded 11th in Paris, overcame a semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic and withstood a late push from Auger-Aliassime, the No. 13 seed, to become the first Italian to win an Olympic tennis medal since Uberto De Morpurgo.
The 22-year-old had a remarkable summer, making it to his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon and returning to clay court play with ease to compete in his first Olympic match. Musetti defeated Taylor Fritz, ranked No. 7, and Alexander Zverev, ranked No. 3, to get to the medal rounds without dropping a set. Alexander Zverev is the 2020 Olympic champion.
Following a crushing 6-1, 6-1 loss to Carlos Alcaraz on Friday, Auger-Aliassime advanced to the Bronze Medal match against Musetti as the latter fell to Djokovic, who had defeated the Italian at Wimbledon, 6-4, 6-2. Auger-Aliassime, a former world No. 6 seed, has been playing his best tennis on clay this year. He defeated No. 6 seed Casper Ruud en route to the semifinals in the Mutua Madrid Open and here in Paris.
Also Read: Zheng Qinwen Secured Historic Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Victory Over Donna Vekic
Auger-Aliasime had not lost to Musetti since 2022, with a 3-2 lead in their last head-to-head encounter; however, Musetti had prevailed in two of the previous three meetings on clay. Musetti, who appeared very at ease on the court, won the opening set with a clever tweener lob.
With just one game lost, Auger-Aliassime won the match after coming back from a 2-4 hole in the first and mounting an even stronger comeback in the second.
In the third set, Musetti maintained his composure when serving and exerted pressure on Auger-Aliassime when returning the stroke, creating two break points that the Canadian had to save. It was important to take the lead at 4-3, as Musetti resolutely defended his Olympic podium position.
Djokovic and Alcaraz, in a ranking decided by Sunday’s gold medal match, will be waiting for him.
