Olympic strain shows: No men's Semifinalist in US Open 4th Round

For those who say that the Olympics don't matter in the tennis world, the 2024 US Open is proving them wrong. Players are increasingly ambitious to win a medal for their country, and in Paris, it has been confirmed that it is a competition that consumes you mentally much more than most of the other tournaments tennis players are used to playing.

While on the women's side the three medalists are still in the competition, the situation is quite different for the men. Iga Swiatek will play in a few hours for a spot in the fourth round, where the Olympic finalists Qinwen Zheng and Donna Vekic are already set to face each other, meaning one will advance to the quarterfinals while the other will not.

On the men's side, Felix Auger-Aliassime was the first to fall. The Paris 2024 semifinalist was completely outplayed in the first round by promising young Czech player Jakub Mensik, who defeated him 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. His rival for the bronze medal, Lorenzo Musetti, didn't fare much better in this US Open.

The Italian reached the third round after overcoming Reilly Opelka in four sets (7-6(3), 1-6, 6-1, 7-5) and Miomir Kecmanovic in five (3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5), but couldn't get past Brandon Nakashima, who outplayed him and won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Silver medalist Carlos Alcaraz didn't even make it that far, getting eliminated in his second match.

The Murcian defeated Australian Li Tu in the first round (6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1) but was swept away by Botic van de Zandschulp in the next round (6-1, 7-5, 6-4). Lastly, the Olympic champion Novak Djokovic also failed to reach the second week. He dominated Radu Albot (6-2, 6-2, 6-4) and Laslo Djere (6-4, 6-4, 2-0 ret.) but was completely outclassed by Australian Alexei Popyrin, who is playing the best tennis of his life on this North American hardcourt swing and defeated him 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.