By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Spanish tennis ace Carlos Alcaraz just claimed a seat in the semifinals of the French Open after sweeping Stefanos Tsitsipas- 6.2, 6.1, 7.6- to set up a duel with Novak Djokovic last June 7, 2023, held at the Philippe-Chatrier in France.
The 20-year-old superstar just outworked the former world no. 3 male tennis player in straight sets and showed dominance once his powerful groundstrokes connected midway through the first.
It wasn’t a day to remember for Tsitsipas after getting bullied in the first two sets which allowed the young Alcaraz to immediately put his imprints in the quarterfinal match.
Tsitsipas’ unfortunate series of events started when Alcaraz quickly broke his service possessions in the first set capped off by a stellar baseline game that helped his total points won department rise to 102.
There was nothing much that Tsitsipas could do to hold off Alcaraz’s offensive surge and stepped on the gas pedal in the one-sided second set.
Tsitsipas resorted to a more defensive approach and lulled Alcaraz to a rally game but the young power player won the majority of the exchanges and went up to a comfortable 2-0 lead.
The Greek tennis star played better in the third and final set after showing more intent to attack Alcaraz in the net and boosted his chances of staying alive when he came back from a 4-1 deficit.
Tsitsipas was able to break Alcaraz’s service possession to get back within a game point, 6-5, but the world no. 1 was able to weather the storm and survive the late surge from the Greek.
Alcaraz then put the crowd on their feet during his match point when he beautifully placed a slicing stroke in the net area built from a risky serve-and-volley play.
With the win, Alcaraz will be facing a laser-focused Djokovic in the semifinal round on June 9, 2023, still to held at the Philippe-Chatrier.
