Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the Olympic Games final with a dominant straight-sets win over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday.

The Spaniard wasted no time booking his place in the gold-medal match, cruising through 6-1 6-1 in just 76 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Auger-Aliassime won the first game on his serve, but it was all one-way traffic after that, as Alcaraz won the next six in a row to take the first set in just 40 minutes.

Like in the first, the Canadian won his opening service game in the second set, but he had no answers as Alcaraz produced one of his best performances of the season.

He did not face a single break point, winning the last five games in a row as he successfully earned two breaks of his own, dragging Auger-Aliassime from corner to corner with dynamic play.

Alcaraz, who has already won the French Open and Wimbledon this year, is now guaranteed a medal, and he will face either Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti in the showpiece.

Data Debrief: Is there any stopping Alcaraz?

It has already been a banner year for the 21-year-old, with two grand slams under his belt, and if he clinches gold, he will become just the second player alongside Rafael Nadal (2008) to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics in the same year.

He is also the second-youngest men's singles finalist at the Olympic Games in tennis history, older only than Robert LeRoy in St. Louis 1904, and the youngest since tennis returned to the Olympics schedule in 1988. 

Alcaraz has won each of his last 12 matches and is now just one match away from writing even more history. 

Carlos Alcaraz dug deep to overcome a spirited performance from Sebastian Korda in the third round of the French Open, claiming a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win.

Korda failed to build on an early break as Alcaraz took the opener on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but he appeared to have the Spaniard on the ropes when he forced a second-set tie-break.

However, the two-time grand slam champion clinched the tie-break with a huge forehand winner and seemed to grow in stature from there, moving well and displaying too much power for his American opponent.

Alcaraz put Korda under pressure from the off in the third set and did not give up a single break point on his own serve, converting the first of two match points with a neat serve and volley.

He will face either Ben Shelton or Felix Auger-Aliassime next, with Stefanos Tsitsipas potentially lurking in the quarter-finals.

Data Debrief: Alcaraz just too good

As was the case against Jesper de Jong in round two, Alcaraz looked to be under serious pressure on Friday, only to step things up and pull away from his opponent.

He has now won 14 of his 17 singles matches at the French Open, with his win ratio of 82.4 per cent the third highest among active male players, after Rafael Nadal (96.6 per cent) and Novak Djokovic (85.3 per cent). 

Jannik Sinner has joined Carlos Alcaraz in withdrawing from the Italian Open due to injury.

Sinner, who pulled out of his quarter-final tie with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Madrid Open this week, is suffering with a hip issue.

It means the world number two will not participate in what would have been a home tournament in Rome, in what is sure to be a disappointment to the Italian fans.

"It is not easy to write this message but after speaking again with the doctors and specialists about my hip problems I have to announce that unfortunately I will not be able to play in Rome," he wrote on X.

"Obviously I'm very sad that I didn't recover, it being one of my favourite tournaments ever. I couldn't wait to come back and play at home in front of the Italian crowd."

Sinner added he was focusing on recovering in time to play at the French Open, which starts towards the end of May.

On Friday, world number one Alcaraz withdrew from the Italian Open due to an arm problem.

Jiri Lehecka progressed to the first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of his career as Daniil Medvedev retired hurt on Thursday at the Madrid Open.

Lehecka, who beat the great Rafael Nadal in the last 16, had just taken the first set 6-4 when Medvedev threw in the towel.

Medvedev had earlier received treatment from the physio, having seemingly struggled when moving to his right side.

"It's never easy in a match like this," Lehecka said. "If I were to choose the way how to win this match, it wouldn't be like that.

"So of course, it's never easy to see your opponent struggling, but at that moment, you just need to focus on yourself, trying to get the maximum level out of yourself."

Lehecka will face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who progressed thanks to a walkover following Jannik Sinner's withdrawal, for a place in the final.

Data Debrief: Czech mates

Lehecka is the third Czech player to reach the semi-finals in Madrid, following Jiri Vovak and Tomas Berdych.

Should Lehecka reach the final, he will move into the top 20 of the ATP rankings for the first time.

Jannik Sinner has booked his place in the Madrid Open quarter-final, going the distance to beat Karen Khachanov 5-7 6-3 6-3 on Tuesday.

The top seed dropped a set for the first time at the tournament as an in-form Khachanov, but he shook off the concerns of a lingering hip injury to make a comeback.

After winning the second set, he then saved both break points he faced in the decider, finishing off a contest that lasted over two hours.

Sinner has reached the quarter-final of the Madrid Open for the first time and will face either Casper Ruud or Felix Auger-Aliassime next. 

Data debrief: Sinner overcomes first big test

Not only has the 22-year-old become the only player to reach the quarter-final at all four Master 1000 events in 2024, but he is the first to achieve that feat since Milos Raonic in 2016.

Sinner has also become the first Italian player to make the quarter-finals of all three existing ATP Masters 1000 events on clay, since 2009 when the Madrid Open took the place of the Hamburg Masters.

Great Britain will play Canada, Finland and Argentina in the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals in Manchester in September.

Leon Smith’s side will hope for a less nail-biting conclusion than in the same city last year, when Dan Evans and Neal Skupski saved match points to beat France in the deciding match in front of a jubilant record crowd, and the draw appears to have been relatively kind.

Canada, led by Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, were champions in 2022 but lack strength in depth.

Finland were last year’s surprise package, making it through to the semi-finals for the first time, while Argentina boast three top-30 players, but indoor hard courts should favour Britain.

The ties will take place at the AO Arena from September 10 to 15, with the top two teams progressing to November’s Final Eight event.

Having beaten France, Australia and Switzerland last year, Britain fell at the first hurdle in Malaga, losing out to Novak Djokovic’s Serbia.

Defending champions Italy will host a group in Bologna also featuring the Netherlands, Belgium and Brazil, while Australia, Czech Republic, France and Spain will contest a heavyweight Group B in Valencia.

The final group, containing Germany, USA, Slovakia and Chile, will take place in the Chinese city of Zhuhai.