"It's no secret now, Carlos Alcaraz is the golden standard" - Tommy Paul after his Paris Olympics QF loss to Spaniard
Tommy Paul had nothing but praise for Carlos Alcaraz, despite losing to him in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics. This was the sixth encounter between Alcaraz and Paul on the ATP tour.
Alcaraz, who is now just two wins away from potentially securing a gold medal for his country, is seeded second at the Games. He began his campaign by defeating Hady Habib 6-3, 6-1 in the first round, followed by victories over Tallon Griekspoor 6-1, 7-6(3) and Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-2 in the second and third rounds, respectively.
Most recently, Carlos Alcaraz triumphed over the ninth seed Tommy Paul with a score of 6-3, 7-6(7), in a match that lasted just over two hours, to secure his spot in the semifinals at the Paris Olympics.
Following the match, Paul, who suffered his fourth defeat against the Spaniard, expressed his admiration for him and stated that Alcaraz is the "golden standard" of what a player has to be and what everyone aspires to emulate.
"It's not a secret that right now, Alcaraz is kind of like the golden standard. You use him to go to the practice court and see what you can change the next time you play him, because everyone wants to play at his level right now," Paul said.
The World No.13 also expressed that any player aiming to be the "best" in the world in tennis would need to defeat Carlos Alcaraz to prove their mettle.
"He's won the last two Slams, he's young, he's full of energy. So if you want to be the best in the world, you've got to beat him. So we went from Wimbledon to the clay with Carlos in mind. We're trying to be at that level," he added .
Carlos Alcaraz will face Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Paris Olympics SF
![Carlos Alcaraz [Image Source: Getty Images]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/3f5b4-17225718051557-1920.jpg?w=500)
Carlos Alcaraz will go up against 13th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Auger-Aliassime kicked off his Olympic Games campaign by defeating Marcos Giron 6-1, 6-4, and Maximilian Marterer 6-0, 6-1 in the first and second rounds, respectively. He then secured a spot in the quarterfinals by triumphing over the fourth seed, Daniil Medvedev, with a score of 6-3, 7-6(5).
In the quarterfinals, the Canadian overcame the sixth seed, Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3 and secured his spot in the semifinals where he would go up against Alcaraz.
Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime have faced each other six times on the ATP tour, with both players having secured three wins each. Their most recent matchup was in the fourth round of the 2024 French Open, where the Spaniard emerged victorious with a score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. Alcaraz then went on to win the Grand Slam title by defeating Alexander Zverev in the final.