Four of the eight quarter-finalists have been found at this year’s Roland-Garros, and one of the pairs is a familiar match up. Carlos Alcaraz will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas for the sixth time on Tuesday.
It’s a head-to-head that the young Spaniard has dominated, with Alcaraz currently leading Tsitsipas 5-0. Last time they met it was at this exact stage of the French Open in 2023, and it ended in straight sets the way of Alcaraz.
The world No 3 has shared that he’s confident heading into the clash, and knows what he needs to do to defeat the Greek a sixth time.
“I know tactically what I have to do in the match,” Alcaraz explained after his round of 16 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday. “I’m not going to say, obviously. But I know what I have to do in the match.”
“I think I have the key against him.”
Alcaraz believes he has the key to defeating Tsitsipas
So far in the rivalry between Alcaraz and Tsitsipas – if you can call it that – the Spaniard has had Tsitsipas’ number.
Four of their six matches have ended in straight sets. Of the two where Tsitsipas won sets, one of these was in Alcaraz’s first year on Tour–a five-set victory at the US Open. In fact, it’s been two years since the Greek has been competitive, with their last two meetings ending 6-3, 6-4 and 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(5).
“The matches that we’ve played, I won all of them,” pointed out Alcaraz, before going on to say how much he’s looking forward to playing Tsitsipas on Tuesday. “I love this challenge; I love these kinds of matches. I’m really looking forward to playing this match.”
“I’ve seen a lot of matches lately from Stefanos. I know that he’s playing great tennis. He has a lot of confidence right now,” he acknowledged, reflecting that despite his recent dominance, he wouldn’t be able to “play at 50 percent” and beat the world No 9.
Tsitsipas optimistic he can make Alcaraz uncomfortable
One statistic will give Tsitsipas confidence heading into Tuesday’s quarter-final.
Between 2018 and 2019, Tsitsipas lost his first five matches against Daniil Medvedev. In their sixth meeting, the Greek prevailed, winning in straight sets at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals. He then went on to win four of their next six clashes.
The 25-year-old is an avid learner, and holds hope that he’ll be able to threaten an in-form Alcaraz.
“He has said in the past that he likes playing against me,” Tsitsipas remarked. “I hope he gets to like it a little bit less this time. I hope I can get him to that stage of starting to feel maybe that it’s not so comfortable playing against me.“
“That’s my goal heading into the match.”
The pair will meet on Tuesday in the Roland-Garros quarter-finals, with the winner playing either Jannik Sinner or Grigor Dimitrov for a spot in the final.
