World no.1 Carlos Alcaraz came out all guns firing, setting up his title credentials strongly as he annihilated a challenge from world no.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. Alcaraz defeated the Greek Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5) in a one-sided quarter-final match at the Phillipe-Chatrier on Tuesday. If 2005 was Rafael Nadal’s Roland Garros, 2023 is slowly turning out to be Alcaraz’s. The young sensational player from Spain came up with a ruthless display of tennis, winning the quarter-final clash in 2 hours and 12 minutes. The crowd loved Alcaraz’s play as he did the destruction work with a smile on his face and destroyed Tsitsipas.
The 20-year-old Spaniard has set up a blockbuster semi-final with 22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, which will be played on June 9, Friday. The Serbian star was made to work hard by Karen Khachanov to reach the semi-final. Djokovic brought up all his experience and skills to beat the 11th seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4 in his quarter-final match.
Tsitsipas, who nearly won the French Open in 2021 and reached the semi-final on the red dirt a year ago, looked like an unseeded player against Alcaraz. The 24-year-old Greek player had no answers to the brilliance of Alcaraz. The Spaniard got 77 percent wins on his first serve, compared to Tsitsipas’s 61. Tsitsipas managed to break his opponent only once over three sets.
Alcaraz showcased some nerves when he made a mess of his service game when he had the opportunity to close out the match at 5-3 in the 3rd set. The crowd roared when Tsitsipas broke, finally. But the Greek’s joy was short-lived as Alcaraz played like a champion in the tie-breaker to clinch victory.
Speaking about the big semi-final on Friday, Alcaraz said he is looking forward to taking on Djokovic, “one of the best” in the business. I really wanted to play this match as well. I always say that if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. Novak Djokovic right now is one of the best players in the world, so it’s going to be a really tough challenge for me. But I’m really looking forward to that match, playing at such a great level, Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz will have a slight edge over Djokovic as he is 25-2 on clay this year, while the Serbian is only 10-3. Interestingly, both men have dropped just one set on their way to the last eight.
