Last American singles player out of Olympics as Tommy Paul falls to Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz might not have been able to help Rafael Nadal capture another Olympic gold at the Olympics, but he still carries his country's flag deep into the singles part of men's tennis at the Games. Alcaraz is the final Spaniard playing at the event. In the quarterfinals on Thursday, he defeated the last American still playing, Tommy Paul, as well.

Paul did not make the match easy for Alcaraz. After the Spaniard took the first set 6-3, Paul kept himself in the second set by coming into the net quite a bit more. The pressure was enough to throw the Spaniard off his game ever slightly. Paul even got to set point in the tie-break but Alcaraz made a ridiculous return off of a drop shot by Paul that few players would have gotten to.

Alcaraz is now into the semifinals on Friday where he will play either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Casper Ruud. Tennis fans might still be in line for an Olympic final that features Alcaraz versus Novak Djokovic. Only one player left in the quarterfinals on the men's side had won Olympic gold before, Alexander Zverev, but the German lost to Lorenzo Musetti in the quarters.

Tommy Paul loses to Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of the Paris Games

As far as Paul, he certainly cannot be upset by how he played. Alcaraz is the more well-rounded player and hits with pace much more easily than the American. Paul might be the better pure athlete, though, and his movement did give Alcaraz issues.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Paul made as deep of a run as any American at the Olympics. The only American to match his quarterfinal appearance was Danielle Collins on the women's side. Collins lost to Iga Swiatek in three sets in the quarters.

The good part for American tennis fans, though, is that they could potentially see an all-American men's doubles match. Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, who defeated Alcaraz and Nadal in doubles on Wednesday, are into the final. They might face Paul and Taylor Fritz who still need to win their doubles match against Aussies Matthew Ebden and John Peers in the semifinals.

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