The potential matchup everybody had circled from the beginning of Roland Garros is now a actuality. One yr after a three-set epic of their first assembly in Madrid, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will contest their second ATP Head2Head showdown within the Paris semi-finals.
The 2 stars have waged a neck-and-neck battle within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this season, buying and selling the highest spot 4 occasions in 2023. Now this generational battle will play out on Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier, with World No. 1 Alcaraz realizing a Friday victory would guarantee he stays on the pinnacle of the lads’s sport following the event.
The 20-year-old Spaniard is in search of his first Roland Garros ultimate and his second main title, which might make it two trophies in as many Grand Slam appearances for the reigning US Open champion, who missed the Australian Open with a leg harm.
Djokovic, 36, is bidding for a record-breaking twenty third Grand Slam males’s singles crown — an achievement that will additionally see him return to World No. 1. The Serbian can be trying to advance to his seventh ultimate in his previous eight majors as he chases a sixth title in that stretch.
One yr on from Alcaraz’s thrilling 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) win in opposition to Djokovic in Madrid — a clay-court occasion with notably faster situations than Roland Garros — how will this semi-final assembly play out? Earlier than we flip to the opponents themselves, let’s hear how Stefanos Tsitsipas broke it down after his quarter-final defeat to the Spaniard.
“Effectively, one [Djokovic] has expertise; the opposite one [Alcaraz] has legs and strikes like Speedy Gonzalez, so you have got that,” he assessed. “[Alcaraz] can hit big, super-big photographs; and [Djokovic] prefers management over anything, in all probability management and precision, to use strain and simply make the opponent transfer as a lot as attainable.”
Tsitsipas has fallen sufferer to each gamers this season, shedding to Djokovic within the Australian Open ultimate and to Alcaraz in each Barcelona and Paris. However Alcaraz’s domination of the Greek in Tuesday’s quarter-final laid down a marker, with the 20-year-old hitting new heights in constructing a 6-2, 6-1, 5-2 lead. Whereas Tsitsipas battled again to pressure a tie-break within the ultimate set, Alcaraz left the court docket with sky-high confidence.
“I believe my degree is getting higher each time that I am profitable,” he stated. “I believe in the present day was such a fantastic degree. I performed actually, rather well. I’d say certainly one of my greatest matches of my profession.”
Gilbert On The Tactical Change That Might Give Djokovic Edge vs. Alcaraz
It is a daring assertion, even when Alcaraz’s ATP Tour profession remains to be in its infancy, with simply two-and-a-half years as an everyday on the circuit. It is a stark distinction to Djokovic, who turned professional in 2003. That disparity, along with the variations of their enjoying kinds, additional fuels the matchup’s intrigue.
So what’s extra essential: Alcaraz’s youth or Djokovic’s expertise?
“I need to suppose my youth,” the 20-year-old stated with a smile. “However it’ll be his forty fifth semi-final of a Grand Slam; that is gonna be my second. I’d say the expertise is healthier at that time, however I am not going to consider that.”
Whereas Alcaraz enters the semis in peak type, on the again of straight-sets wins in opposition to Denis Shapovalov, Lorenzo Musetti and Tsitsipas, Djokovic will current a recent set of issues — not least due to his rock-solid two-handed backhand, a departure from the one-handers Alcaraz feasted on in his earlier three outings.
Djokovic additionally has an innate capacity to carry out his greatest within the largest moments, most just lately evidenced by his 5-0 tie-break file this fortnight, achieved with out committing a single unforced error.
What issue will play the largest position within the semi-final?
Alcaraz’s drop shot
Alcaraz’s energy
Djokovic’s clutch tennis
Djokovic’s defence
The Serbian has dropped only one set this event, the opener in his quarter-final in opposition to an impressed Karen Khachanov. However a 7/0 second-set tie-break helped him flip the match round. Djokovic stated the primary two units in opposition to Khachanov have been his worst of the event, and he is aware of there could also be no escape from a repeat efficiency in opposition to Alcaraz.
“If it involves that match, that is the match that lots of people need to see,” Djokovic stated, earlier than Alcaraz defeated Tsitsipas. “It is undoubtedly the largest problem for me to this point within the event. If you wish to be the perfect, it’s important to beat the perfect. He is undoubtedly a man to beat right here. I am wanting ahead to that.”
Alcaraz shared comparable sentiments about Djokovic, word-for-word partially: “Since final yr I actually needed to play once more in opposition to Novak. We each are enjoying a fantastic degree, and as I stated earlier than, if you wish to be the perfect, it’s important to beat the perfect. So I am actually in search of that match. I’ll get pleasure from it.”
Alcaraz additionally stated he was excited to play a historic semi-final in opposition to “a legend like Novak”. However at Roland Garros, the historical past and legend of Rafael Nadal all the time looms massive, even when the Spaniard just isn’t competing this yr. To that finish, Djokovic paid Alcaraz maybe the largest praise he may have shared.
“[Alcaraz] carries himself very nicely. Little question a really good man on and off the court docket. Brings numerous depth on the court docket. Jogs my memory of somebody from his nation that performs with a left hand,” Djokovic stated with a smile, referencing the 14-time Roland Garros champ. “He deserves his success, little question. He is working arduous, and he is a really full participant already and solely age 20.”
A win for Alcaraz on this generational problem wouldn’t solely deny Djokovic sole possession of the Grand Slam file — it may additionally sign that the dominance of the Massive 3 is lastly cracking.
When Tsitsipas was requested who he thought would win the matchup, he steered away from a prediction however shared his rooting curiosity: “I root for the younger children,” he stated, regardless of the defeat to Alcaraz.
The fan-favourite Spaniard can possible depend on the help of the Chatrier crowd as nicely, which may give him an important increase in a match of tremendous margins. However for Djokovic, who typically performs his greatest tennis when the followers are behind his opponent, which may be simply how he likes it.
