Can Tsitsipas solve the Alcaraz riddle?

Late afternoon on Monday, Carlos Alcaraz appeared at the Jean-Bouin complex to prepare for his quarter-final clash at Roland Garros, where he will cross swords with Stefanos Tsitsipas (5-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head) for a place in the semi-finals of the season’s second Grand Slam tournament.

While practising with his brother Alvaro for an hour, the Spaniard could see his next opponent making his own preparations on the next court. Before their quarter-final bout, though, Tsitsipas will be playing his second-round men’s doubles match with brother Petros Tsitsipas.

However, the Greek’s biggest challenge will be conjuring up his first win against Alcaraz, an opponent who has been causing him problems ever since they first crossed paths at the 2021 US Open, when the Spaniard was 17 and ranked No. 55 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

“Rafa Nadal had already spoken about him at the Laver Cup in 2019, and he wasn’t even in the Top 300 in the world,” remembered Tsitsipas, who was playing doubles with the 22-time Grand Slam champion at the time. “You already knew he’d be good, you could see it. At that time I was able to imagine that he might be a big rival of mine in the coming years, and my prediction was right.”

“That was a great match (2021 US Open) because we had an incredible battle, playing head to head,” recalled Tsitsipas of their encounter in New York, which Alcaraz won in five sets to reach the fourth round of a major for the first time. “My goal is to try and replicate it and have a great battle like that one with him. I hope to learn from those past experiences I’ve had with him on court, particularly that US Open match, to try and see what I could have done better in the tough moments of that match.”

Since then, Alcaraz has defeated Tsitsipas four more times, demonstrating how comfortable he feels with the Greek on the other side of the net.

“He’s said he likes playing against me, I’ve heard that in the past,” Tsitsipas admitted. “My goal is to make the match challenging for him, as he’s one of the best in the world. I feel like I’m in a good position and that I have a great chance because I’ve played good matches so far,” added the Greek. “Playing against Carlos will ignite my internal flame. I want to go out and show everyone what I’ve achieved.”

Alcaraz said after beating Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday that Tsitsipas will surely have looked at their previous encounters to concoct something different this time around and try to surprise the 21-year-old on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“Obviously I’ve seen some things, I’ve paid attention to certain things,” warned Tsitsipas. “That helped me understand immediately what he does better than me and how he comes out on top, how he wins points when he faces me. They’re important things in order to have a clear vision of the tactics and what the real plan is.

“I know that he likes using his drop shot and that’s something I think all his opponents will be expecting if they’ve done their homework properly. It’s something he uses very well on court.”

Chapter six of the rivalry between two of the world’s best players is just around the corner.