Carlos Alcaraz calmly dismisses Stefanos Tsitsipas and reaches the semi-finals

The Spaniard did not have to force his talent to eliminate the finalist of the 2021 edition during the night session on Tuesday (6-3, 7-6 [7-3]6-4).

He will be in the semi-finals for the second consecutive year at Roland-Garros. Carlos Alcaraz overcame the Stefanos Tsitsipas obstacle, Tuesday June 4, in three sets (6-3, 7-6 [7-3]6-4) and only 2h15 Impossible to overwhelm, the Spaniard simply showed himself to be more tactically intelligent than the Greek, too imprecise to hope for another result. He will not have released much energy before taking up the challenge of Jannik Sinner, future world number 1, and perhaps playing his first final at Porte d’Auteuil.

Carlos Alcaraz quickly opened the way to the final four, taking his opponent’s very first service game. He then just had to lock in his throw (85% first ball, no break point conceded) to maintain his lead, even if it meant letting go of some ballast on certain service games from the Greek, who was much less skilled on the first ball. (59%). The Spaniard allowed himself to choose when to accelerate and only took 31 minutes to win the first set, concluded with a second break.

At this rate, this night session had a chance of ending even before sunset. But the second round was much tighter. Carlos Alcaraz quickly led 3-0, but Stefanos Tsitsipas found the resources to break the tie at 2-4, taking advantage of a slight sloppiness from his opponent. The two men had to decide in the tie-break. One had the opportunity to completely relaunch the meeting, the other to drive the point home.

Absolutely not threatened, the Spaniard emerged victorious, his opponent frustrated. Nervous, the Greek showed some signs of annoyance and ended up receiving a warning from the referee. His attitude completely contrasted with that of his opponent, who was content to clench his fist after each important point won. His patience was rewarded at 3-3 in the third set, when Stefanos Tsitsipas gave him the break on a plateau with a double fault. Then all that remained was to conclude.

“When I play against him, I realize how much I have to achieve to be a better tennis player. He maximizes everything he does on the court. Tonight I played some great shots sometimes, but He had someone better than me every time. I did everything I could.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas

at a press conference

A year after their last confrontation (6-2, 6-1, 7-6 [7-5] in 2h13), already in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros, there was no more match. For Stefanos Tsitsipas, the pill may be difficult to swallow. He now has a record of six defeats in six matches against Carlos Alcaraz, who is becoming his nemesis. He also had a fifth Grand Slam tournament in a row where he did not advance to the quarter-finals.