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Paris 2024 Olympics: Fritz, Paul, Collins earn singles wins; Krajicek/Ram set clash with Alcaraz/Nadal

Arthur Kapetanakis | July 30, 2024

An action-packed Day 4 of the tennis event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Team USA continued its march towards the medal rounds with six wins across singles and doubles play.

 

Danielle Collins advanced to the women's singles quarterfinals, while Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul progressed to the men's singles third round. Collins also teamed with Desirae Krawczyk to reach the women's doubles second round. Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek moved on to the men's doubles quarters, where they will meet Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal in a Wednesday showdown, while Coco Gauff and Fritz scored an opening win in mixed doubles. Both Gauff and Emma Navarro suffered defeats in the women's singles third round.

Fritz pulls double duty, stays alive in all three competitions

Fritz went the distance in both of his Day 4 matches, coming through a deciding frame to advance in both singles and mixed doubles. He started his effort with a 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2 singles win against Great Britain's Jack Draper, then returned to the court for a 6-1, 6-7(6), 10-5 win with Gauff against Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Nadia Podoroska.

 

Fritz has now won all four of his Olympic matches this week, having earned an opening men's doubles win with Paul on Monday. After a straight-sets victory against Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the singles first round, Fritz had to battle back Tuesday against an inspired Draper.

 

"I'm really happy to come out of that," the seventh seed assessed. "I felt like I played pretty good from start to finish, to be honest. His level was incredibly high for a set and a half. He was the better player, I was definitely being outplayed. I just kept telling myself to just do the best I can to stay in it, hang in the match with my serve and just keep gutting these holds out.

Photo by Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images.

"I just kept getting out of these tight serve games, where I think if I lose any of those, then he probably just carries that momentum to the end. I just told myself the level he's playing at, in this kind of heat, these conditions, it's just got to be tough to keep it up the whole time. I was hurting, I was getting tired, but I felt like if I was, then he definitely was too. I just had to hang on until my fitness could carry it for me."

 

Paul had an easier time in a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Czechia's Jakub Mensik, with the American's practice sessions in the Florida heat preparing him well for the hot Paris conditions.

 

"Florida won me that match, for sure," he said with a laugh. "It's hot but it's nothing compared to Florida, I'll tell you that much."

 

From start to finish, the ninth seed felt in control: "I was happy with how I played," he said. "Even from the first game, I had a couple of unforced errors, but I hit the ball really clean on the misses and I knew I was only missing by a couple inches, so it was only a little bit of adjusting to do. I thought I played a good match and felt the ball really well."

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.
Collins becomes first American quarterfinalist

With her 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win against Colombia's Camila Osorio, Collins became the first American player to reach the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics. It was her second three-set victory in as many days, after she beat Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in a deciding set Monday.

 

"A lot of back and forth. Really tough conditions out here I think for all of us," Collins said of her win against Osorio. "I was happy to get through and beat a tough opponent. It means a lot, these wins and representing your country, it's one of the coolest experiences."

 

Collins is the last American standing in the women's singles competition after Tuesday defeats for Gauff and Emma Navarro. Gauff was turned back, 7-6(7), 6-2, by Croatia's Donna Vekic, while Navarro fell to China's Zheng Qinwen, 6-7(7), 7-6(4), 6-1.

In women's doubles action, Collins and Krawczyk opened their campaign with a 6-1, 6-3 result against Greeks Maria Sakkari and Despina Papamichail.

 

Gauff and Jessica Pegula will compete in the women's doubles second round on Wednesday against the Czech team of Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova.

 

Ram/Krajicek set Alcaraz/Nadal showdown in QFs

Ram and Krajicek have yet to drop a set in the men's doubles competition. They continued their run Tuesday with a 6-4, 7-6(3) decision against Brazilians Thiago Monteiro and Thiago Seyboth Wild, a result that saw them join Collins as Team USA quarterfinalists.

 

Next up for the Americans is a third-round showdown with Spain's Nadal and Alcaraz.

 

"Exciting match, potentially," Ram said before the Spaniards wrapped up their second-round win. "I think we're going to, at the moment, just enjoy this one for the evening and then have a look and see who actually wins that match and prepare from there.

 

"Playing those two guys, at this arena especially, will certainly be an incredible atmosphere if it happens."

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