Third-seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will face No. 9 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the French Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, 4 June.
The winner of this match will play either 2nd-seed Jannik Sinner of Italy or 10th-seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the semi-finals.
Carlos Alcaraz leads their head-to-head 5-0, including a 3-0 record on clay courts. The Spaniard also beat Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 in the French Open quarter-finals last year and will be keen to extend his winning streak over the Greek.
The 25-year-old Greek boasts a considerable 17-3 record on clay-courts this season. Still, Stefanos Tsitsipas is yet to beat Alcaraz after five attempts and will have to play his best tennis and stay composed throughout, if he's to stand a chance at the Roland Garros on Tuesday night (local time).
Stefanos Tsitsipas endured significant challenges against Matteo Arnaldi of Italy in the round of 16, struggling to find solutions early on. The Italian dominated the opening set and had a chance to serve for the second set. However, Tsitsipas saved four set points with some fortuitous play, completely changing the match's direction. Losing the second set from such a strong position demoralized Arnaldi, leading to a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory for Tsitsipas.
The next challenge for the former world #3 is formidable. The rise of younger talents like Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Holger Rune, combined with Tsitsipas's difficulties in defeating them, has contributed to his decline and loss of status as a top title contender. This has led to a noticeable dip in his confidence, a stark contrast to his past mental resilience when he could compete on equal terms with the big-three players, including Carlos Alcaraz.
Tsitsipas did gain a confidence boost by defeating Jannik Sinner en route to the Monte Carlo Masters title two months ago, but this victory was somewhat fortuitous, as Sinner began struggling physically during the deciding set. Consequently, it will be fascinating to see how Tsitsipas fares against tournament favorite Carlos Alcaraz, an opponent who has consistently troubled him.
Ideally, Tsitsipas would have spent time resting, recharging, and strategizing for his sixth match against Carlos Alcaraz. However, he chose to honor his commitment to his brother, Petros Tsitsipas, by participating in a doubles match. They won against the defending champions Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, which helped Petros qualify for the Paris Olympics. Though he had a mixed doubles match scheduled for the same day, Tsitsipas made the prudent decision to withdraw, prioritizing his singles campaign.
Having already won Grand Slam titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open, Carlos Alcaraz is now making strides to reach his maiden French Open final.
Since he made his ATP main-draw debut in February 2020, Carlos Alcaraz has been one of the most prominent figures in men's tennis. One month after his 21st birthday, Alcaraz will hope to clinch his third Major and first in Paris.
Alcaraz equalized his head-to-head series against Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada with an incredibly impressive straight-set victory in the round of 16, triumphing 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
Even though the Spaniard came into the French Open with lingering fitness issues, he has shown significant improvement with each match. His recent opponents, including Jesper De Jong, Sebastian Korda, and Felix Auger Aliassime, have struggled to keep up with his intensity and have left the court exhausted.
Alcaraz has displayed an impressive level of play recently, and his performance is likely to get even better if he maintains his fitness. This is particularly crucial given the arm issue that has plagued him this year, causing him to suffer unexpected losses to players like Nicolas Jarry, Grigor Dimitrov, and Andrey Rublev, and forcing a retirement early in his match against Thiago Monteiro at the Rio Open in February.
These challenges also led to him missing all but one of the tournaments during the European clay season, notably impacting his French Open preparations.
Despite these setbacks, Alcaraz has managed to reach the quarterfinals in every tournament he has completed this year. However, his quarterfinal record has been less consistent, with three losses out of five appearances. One notable defeat came in the Australian Open quarterfinals to Alexander Zverev.
Having made four Roland Garros appearances without claiming the title is surprising for Alcaraz, especially given Rafael Nadal's absence or diminished form in two of those years. Though he's not fully meeting expectations in this tournament, Alcaraz has shown a steady progression in his results, from failing in the qualifiers in 2020, reaching the third round in 2021, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2022, and making it to the semifinals last year.
While Stefanos Tsitsipas has a solid track record at the French Open (reaching the final in 2021, when he wasted a two-set lead in a heartbreaking loss to Novak Djokovic), this matchup poses a significant challenge. Alcaraz excels at exploiting Tsitsipas' backhand, and Tsitsipas faces a considerable mental hurdle when playing against his Spanish counterpart.
Given these factors, the Greek's chances appear slim unless Alcaraz experiences fitness issues during their meeting.
