PARIS – Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime fell short of a second bronze medal at the Paris Olympics with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 loss to Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the men’s singles third-place match.
Up 2-1 in the third set, Musetti earned two break-point opportunities, but Auger-Aliassime held him off to even the set.
Musetti finally broke a few games later to go up 5-3 after Auger-Aliassime hit the net. He then held serve to take bronze.
The 23-year-old Auger-Aliassime of Montreal lost in straight sets to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the semifinal Friday. Alcaraz was scheduled to meet top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia in Sunday’s final.
Also Friday, Auger-Aliassime won bronze alongside Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski in mixed doubles play. They defeated Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands 6-3, 7-6 (2).
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Canada’s only Olympic tennis medal before Paris came in 2000, when Daniel Nestor and Sébastien Lareau beat the heavily favoured Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in the men’s doubles final at the Sydney Games.
On Saturday, Musetti put Auger-Aliassime on the back heel early, converting his fifth break point to win the first game.
Auger-Aliassime got the break back to tie the first set at 4-4, but Musetti immediately responded.
The Italian had triple break point in the ninth game before finally converting to go up 5-4, then won the set on serve.
It was Auger-Aliassime who enjoyed the quick start in the second set, going up 2-0 with an early break, the fending off break point and winning the third game with an ace.
He then scored his second break of the set to go up 5-1 before clinching it on serve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press