Olympics day 5 late wrap: Nadal’s dream over, Brazil into soccer quarters

Swiatek reaches tennis semis, US on track for gold in basketball

01 August 2024 - 08:40 By Reuters
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Rafael Nadal waves goodbye after he and Carlos Alcaraz of Team Spain lose their men's doubles quarterfinal against Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of Team US on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Roland Garros on Wednesday night.
Rafael Nadal waves goodbye after he and Carlos Alcaraz of Team Spain lose their men's doubles quarterfinal against Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of Team US on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Roland Garros on Wednesday night.
Image: Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty Images

There was plenty of drama and more medals late on day 5 of the Paris Olympics: 

Djokovic and Alcaraz move closer to golden showdown, 'Nadalcaraz' dream over

Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz stayed on collision course for a golden showdown at the Paris Olympics as they surged through to the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

But Rafa Nadal's hopes of writing one last golden chapter in his Roland Garros love story ended in disappointment as he and Alcaraz lost in the quarterfinals of the doubles.

“I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but if that's the last time I enjoyed it,” the 38-year-old said after a 6-2 6-4 loss to Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek on the court where the king of clay won 14 French Open titles.

Djokovic, also in the last-chance saloon as far as his Olympic title hopes go, beat Germany's Dominic Koepfer 7-5 6-3 to reach the last eight at the Games for a record fourth time where he meets Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The 21-year-old Alcaraz, seeded second, followed suit with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Russian Roman Safiullin to line up a quarterfinal with American Tommy Paul.

Tokyo Olympics singles champion Alexander Zverev stayed on course for a repeat as the third seed beat Australia's Alexei Popyrin 7-5 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal with Lorenzo Musetti.

Women's singles top seed Iga Swiatek became the first player from Poland to reach an Olympic semifinal as Danielle Collins retired trailing 4-1 in the third set of their scrap.

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova stunned Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-4 6-2 to become the first Slovak since Miloslav Mecir in 1988 to reach the Olympic singles semifinals and China's Zheng Qinwen ended the stellar career of Germany's Angelique Kerber to emulate Li Na who reached the semifinals of singles at the Beijing Games in 2008.

Kerber, who will retire after the Games, clung on grimly in stifling heat but Zheng eventually won 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(6) to set up a semifinal with Swiatek.

Swiatek trounced Collins 6-1 in the first set, lost the second 6-2 and was hit painfully by a Collins shot in the decider before moving 4-1 ahead, at which point Collins pulled out.

Unseeded Croatian Donna Vekic concluded a marathon day as she served an ace on her fifth match point, having also saved one, to beat Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk at gone midnight.

Vekic, who lost the longest ever Wimbledon women's semifinal to Jasmine Paolini this month, needed two hours 59 minutes to win 6-4 2-6 7-6(8) and will play Schmiedlova — meaning at least one unseeded player will win a women's singles medal.

For all his 24 Grand Slam titles and countless accolades, the Olympics has never been especially kind to the 37-year-old Djokovic and a bronze medal remains his only souvenir.

But he looks in the mood to fill the only unoccupied space in his bulging trophy cabinet and is yet to drop a set.

After the emotions and hyperbole of Djokovic's clash with Nadal on Monday, the atmosphere on a muggy centre court was more sedate as he comfortably dispatched 30-year-old Koepfer.

Koepfer played two bad points at 5-6 to hand over the opener to Djokovic who needed no further help to notch his 16th career singles win at the Olympics — the most by any player since tennis returned to the Games in 1988.

Standing in the way of Djokovic and a fourth Olympic singles semifinal is eighth seed Tsitsipas who beat Argentina's Sebastian Baez. The last time they met at Roland Garros was in the French Open final in 2021 when Tsitsipas was two sets ahead before succumbing in five.

“I don't expect anything less than a big fight and a tight match,” Djokovic said of Thursday's clash. “The goal is to get to the finals and have a battle for that gold.”

Games debutant Alcaraz, aiming to add the Olympic title to his French Open and Wimbledon crowns, was too good for Safiullin but his day ended in disappointment as he failed to spark alongside his idol Nadal.

“I think we've played great points, great rallies, great matches, but I'm a little bit disappointed right now. Obviously we wanted to keep going,” Alcaraz said.

Norway's Casper Ruud will be eyeing a medal as the sixth seed beat Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina to set up a quarterfinal with Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime who finally broke his losing run against Russia's Daniil Medvedev, beating the fourth seed 6-3 7-6(5) having lost their first seven meetings.

American Paul ended French hopes of a medal by beating Corentin Moutet 7-6(5) 6-3 but doubles partner Taylor Fritz could not join him in the last eight, going down 6-4 7-5 to Musetti.

Lea Schueller celebrates with teammates scoring Team Germany's third goal in their Olympic Games Paris 2024 women's Group B match against Zambia at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne.
Lea Schueller celebrates with teammates scoring Team Germany's third goal in their Olympic Games Paris 2024 women's Group B match against Zambia at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne.
Image: Tullio M Puglia/Getty Images

Soccer: Germany and Brazil reach Olympic quarterfinals, Australia made to wait

Germany thrashed Zambia 4-1 to clinch a spot in the women's Olympic soccer quarterfinals on Wednesday while Brazil also went through despite losing to Spain but Australia will have to wait and see after losing to already-qualified US.

In the women's competition, the top two teams in each of the three groups advance, along with the two best third-placed sides.

Australia, who finished third in Group B, needed at least a draw to guarantee their spot in the knockout stage, but fell to a 2-1 defeat to four-times gold medallists US, who produced a dominant performance to finish the group stage with a perfect nine points.

The Matildas now need results to go their way in Group A later on Wednesday to advance as one of the best third-placed sides.

Germany finished second in Group B as they shook off a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of the US to outclass Zambia in St Etienne with a brace from Lea Schueller and goals from Klara Buehl and Elisa Senss.

In Group C, Brazil lost 2-0 to Spain, who had already qualified and claimed their third straight win thanks to second-half goals from Alexia Putellas and Athenea del Castillo.

Brazil, who finished the group stage with three points, were reduced to 10 players seconds before half time when captain Marta was shown a straight red card but they reached the next round as one of the best third-placed teams after Australia's defeat.

World Cup winners Spain topped the group ahead of Japan, who finished with six points after a 3-1 win over Nigeria in Nantes.

The US went ahead against Australia thanks to Trinity Rodman's close-range finish after a corner in the 43rd minute. Substitute Korbin Albert made it 2-0 with a terrific shot in the 77th, before Australia pulled one back with a stoppage-time goal from Alanna Kennedy.

Germany went ahead 10 minutes in with Schueller's simple low finish before Bruhl doubled the advantage from long-range two minutes after the break.

Zambia reduced the deficit two minutes later as Barbra Banda profited from a blunder by the German goalkeeper to net her fourth goal in the tournament.

Shueller made it 3-0 in the 61st before Elisa Senss sealed the rout deep in stoppage-time.

Brazil's all-time leading scorer Marta, who announced she is retiring from international football this year, was in tears after a dangerous challenge on Spain's Olga Carmona earned her a red card in the final seconds of the first half.

Del Castillo dealt Brazil another blow, putting Spain ahead in the 68th minute before a superb strike from Putellas sealed the triumph.

Japan dominated Nigeria from the early stages and Chelsea's Maika Hamano opened the scoring in the 22nd minute and Mina Tanaka added another 10 minutes later from a rebound off the crossbar.

Jennifer Echegini pulled one back for the Super Falcons with a brilliant strike three minutes from halftime but Hikaru Kitagawa restored Japan's two-goal advantage with a superb free kick.

Japan will face the US in the quarterfinals at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.

Gold medalist Shinnosuke Oka of Team Japan celebrates after the medal ceremony for the artistic gymnastics men's all-around final on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena.
Gold medalist Shinnosuke Oka of Team Japan celebrates after the medal ceremony for the artistic gymnastics men's all-around final on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena.
Image: Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Gymnastics: Oka edges Zhang to win all-around gold medal in thriller

Japan's Shinnosuke Oka displayed nerves of steel as he capitalised on early errors by the top contenders and fended off a late challenge by China's Zhang Boheng to win the men's all-around gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.

Zhang trailed by just 0.233 of a point to take silver and his countryman Xiao Ruoteng claimed bronze.

The tense final came down to the last apparatus — the horizontal bar — and 20-year-old Oka maintained his poise under intense pressure to score a winning total of 86.832.

After Zhang, the last competitor to go on the bar, nailed his dismount after a near flawless routine, every single person at the Bercy Arena had their eyes locked on the big screen to see where the gold would end up.

Zhang appeared to think he had done enough to snatch the top prize away from his Japanese rival as he pumped his fists in celebration.

After a wait that seemed to last an eternity, it was Oka who was left celebrating wildly, with Tokyo all around champion Daiki Hashimoto cheering loudly and drawing him into a hug.

Zhang double and triple checked the score on the big screen, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Today we've seen a lot of gymnasts making mistakes,” Oka said.

“They weren't able to perform in their best form. If they were, and if everyone was in good condition, it would have been a better competition.”

First-time Olympian Oka strode into Bercy Arena in the shadow of his more celebrated teammate Hashimoto as well as Zhang, who had topped the all around qualifying standings.

But the Chinese gymnast's bid for gold started off with an unexpected bang during his first rotation, the floor exercise. He banged his head on the floor after his legs buckled beneath him at the end of one of his high-flying tumbling passes.

After drawing a disappointing 13.233, he knew he could not afford any more mishaps and maybe even needed others to trip up to climb to the top of the podium.

In the very next rotation Hashimoto drew gasps from a packed crowd when he lost his balance while doing a handstand on the pommel horse.

He slipped off the apparatus mid-routine for the second time in three days, having also fallen during the men’s team final. While on Monday, Japan rallied from that mistake to claim the team gold, there would be no reprieve for Hashimoto on Wednesday and a lowly score of 12.966 effectively ended his gold medal hopes.

That opened the door for Oka, who shouldered none of the expectations that the other two were saddled with.

Oka kept his wits about him as he produced spectacular routines on all six apparatus to put everyone else in his shade as he picked up his second gold in Paris.

Oka, the youngest member of the veteran Japanese team, did not make any major errors over his three days of competition as he handed Japan the men's all around title for a fourth successive Olympics. Kohei Uchimura had started the run by winning the title in 2012 and 2016.

Hashimoto failed in his bid to match Uchimura's back-to-back titles and finished sixth.

The race for bronze was settled by the narrowest of margins, with Illia Kovtun missing out on securing Ukraine a second medal of the Paris Games by just 0.199 of a point.

Jt Thor of Team South Sudan defends against Kevin Durant of Team US in their men's Group C game on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille.
Jt Thor of Team South Sudan defends against Kevin Durant of Team US in their men's Group C game on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille.
Image: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Basketball: US on track for another gold with victory over South Sudan, Serbia win

The US continued their quest for a fifth successive Olympic gold medal with a 103-86 victory over South Sudan in men's basketball, while Serbia dominated Puerto Rico in a 107-66 in the second round of Group C matches on Wednesday.

Debutants South Sudan, led by NBA player Royal Ivey, were looking to inflict only the seventh defeat on Team USA at an Olympics and they came out strong, capitalising on some early American mistakes to edge ahead in the first quarter.

It did not last long as poor shooting and constant fouls saw the defending champions lead by 19 points at the break.

Stylish as ever and fully recovered from injury, three-time Olympian Kevin Durant showed all his ability scoring 14 points including 8 of 9 from the free-throw line to delight the thousands of fans Pierre Mauroy stadium.

The crowd were also thrilled to see the amazing dunks of LeBron James and Derrick White, who combined for 22 points.

“A lot of intensity and I respect of how (South Sudan players) have approach the game,” said Durant.

“The history of South Sudan is inspiring, what they have done as a country, you have to respect that,” added Miami Heat centre Bam Adebayo, who led the US with 18 points.

Serbia made easy work of Puerto Rico in the earlier Group C match. In a one-sided affair, Filip Petrusev and Nikola Jokic were the dynamic duo who combined for 29 points.

In the second round of Group A in the women's basketball earlier on Wednesday, Spain survived a nail-biting finish against Puerto Rico to win 63-62 and Serbia downed China 81-59.

Spain and Serbia, who will meet in the final pool game on Saturday, both earned a place in the quarterfinals.

Megan Gustafson turned in another stellar performance with 18 points and 13 rebounds for Spain.

The Puerto Ricans took an impressive 19-point lead in the third quarter, limiting the Europeans to five points.

But the pressure proved too much for them in the final quarter and Laura Gil sealed the victory for Spain on a free throw with one second left.

Serbia defeated China thanks to a brilliant combination of 12 points from Tina Krajisnik and 15 from Yvonne Anderson.

The strength of the Europeans was clear from the start as they opened up a six-point lead in the first quarter. China, however, rallied before the break and levelled at 22 all.

But the team, which had Chinese Basketball Association president and ex-NBA Houston Rockets player Yao Ming supporting on the bench, could not withstand the Serbs' second-half surge.

China and Puerto Rico have one last hope of progressing when they meet on Saturday if they can pick up enough points to finish in the top two third-placed teams of the group stage. (Reporting by Angelica Medina in Lille, editing by Christian Radnedge and Bill Berkrot)

Niklas Wellen and Gonzalo Peillat of Team Germany celebrate victory after their men's Pool A match against Team Netherlands on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade Yves Du Manoir.
Niklas Wellen and Gonzalo Peillat of Team Germany celebrate victory after their men's Pool A match against Team Netherlands on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade Yves Du Manoir.
Image: Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Hockey: Germany stun the Netherlands to reach men's quarterfinals

Germany stunned the Netherlands 1-0 in the men's hockey at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday to secure a spot in the quarterfinals as the Australian, Argentine, Belgian and Dutch women's teams also progressed to the knockout stage.

Niklas Wellen, the Germany skipper, found a sliver of space in the third minute for the only score of a tight Pool A game in which attritional defences limited shots on net on a humid afternoon at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.

“The weather is very tough, the toughest condition I ever played with,” Germany goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg said

“Normally, my whole equipment weighs about six kilos and after a game like this I have 20 kilos on my body from the water, from the sweat, from everything.”

Players voices echoed in the silence of the final evening games as the normally boisterous spectators were kept out of the open air seating because of forecast storms that never materialised.

In the women's draw, Belgium beat Japan 3-0 in a Pool A clash to give them three wins out of three and a place in the quarterfinals for the first time after failing to get past the opening stage on their Olympic debut in London in 2012.

The Dutch women later showed why they are favourites to retain the title they won in Tokyo three years ago when they beat China 3-0 to reach the knockout stage for the seventh straight Olympics.

Argentina joined them from Pool B after holding on to beat Spain 2-1 despite having to defend with two players down for several minutes in the fourth quarter, while Australia also progressed with a 3-0 win over the US.

In Wednesday's other Pool B game, goals from Amy Costello and Hannah French gave Britain a 2-1 win over South Africa, their first victory of the tournament keeping alive their hopes of progressing.

Nike Lorenz scored a hat-trick as Germany bounced back from a defeat to the Netherlands with a 5-1 thrashing of hosts France to move three points clear in third place in Pool A.

The top four in each group qualifies for the quarterfinals.

Belgium and India reached the quarterfinals from men's Pool B on Tuesday.

Spain remain firmly in the hunt for a knockout berth from Pool A after beating South Africa 3-0 to pull level with the Netherlands on seven points going into their clash in the final pool game on Friday. 

All the latest Paris Games coverage on TimesLIVE’s Olympics 2024 page.

All the Team SA results here.


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