French Open in Paris, Quarterfinals, Tuesday, 06.06.2023
The quarter-finals of the French Open will bring an absolute top duel between tournament favourite Carlos Alcaraz and world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday.
This is only the fifth time the two have met in an ATP tournament, and the Spaniard has always won so far. Will it be the same this time?
The betting companies see the advantages with odds of 1.2 on the side of the world number one. In my Alcaraz Tsitsipas tip, I want to go into more detail on whether the Greek could deliver a surprise.
In the tournament so far, Carlos Alcaraz has not allowed too much. On his way to the quarter-finals, he has only dropped one set – in a four-set win over Japan’s Taro Daniel in the 2nd round.
Otherwise, however, the Spaniard showed himself to be sovereign and did not have to go into a tie-break in any set. The only danger was in the opening match against qualifier Flavio Cobolli, who only conceded 5-7 in the third set.
But from Round 3 onwards, Alcaraz gave neither Canadian Denis Shapovalov (6-1,6-4,6-2) nor Italian Lorenzo Musetti (6-3, 6-3, 6-2) a chance.
Like Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas seems to feel more and more comfortable at Roland Garros.
The Greek had a rather bumpy start to the tournament with a four-set win over Czech Jiri Vesely. He only won the decisive fourth set in a tie-break.
In round 2, things went better against the Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena. He remained without losing a set. Only in the second set did he have to go into a tie-break.
Should the match between Alcaraz and Tsitsipas also go to a tie-break, top bookmaker Bet365 would double the bets.
The 20-year-old Alcaraz and the 24-year-old Tsitsipas have faced each other on the ATP Tour four times so far, always with the Spaniard getting the better end.
However, it has been very close. Especially in the first duel at the US Open in 2021, when the decision was only made in the tie-break of the fifth set.
This encounter also took place on hard court, as did the 2022 encounter at the Masters in Miami.
The two most recent encounters, however, took place on clay and therefore provide a little more information.
In 2022, Alcaraz won 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the Barcelona quarter-finals.
A year later, the Spaniard won the final at the same venue 6-3, 6-4.
Both players have been in strong form lately and could even improve in the course of the tournament.
After Tsitsipas still had problems in the first two matches, he clearly dispatched the Argentine Diego Schwartzman in three sets in Round 3 (6-2, 6-2, 6-3).
In the following round of 16 he did not give the surprisingly strong Austrian Sebastian Ofner a chance (7-5, 6-3, 6-0).
This means that two of the best players of the tournament so far will now meet in the quarter-finals. For the favoured Alcaraz, the first really tough test awaits.
A win for the Spaniard without losing a set is offered by the experienced betting provider Bwin with odds of 2,05. A 3:1 victory is offered at 3.75.
Summary: A tough battle is to be expected in the quarter-finals of the French Open between Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas, especially as both players have been in good form recently.
As the world number one, the Spaniard is considered the favourite by the bookmakers. In addition, he has always had the better end in his previous duels with the Greek.
I also expect Alcaraz to reach the semi-finals in Paris. But Tsitsipas will not make it easy for him and I expect him to win at least one set.
My Alcaraz Tsitsipas tip is therefore: Win Alcaraz & both win at least one set!
