Alcaraz masters Tsitsipas to set up semis showdown with Djokovic at French Open

If Stefanos Tsitsipas ever manages to lord it over Carlos Alcaraz, he may look back at the third set of their quarter-final clash at the French Open on Tuesday night for the template to supremacy.

The Greek boldly ventured to the net to finish points swiftly to profit from a lapse in concentration from the hitherto dominant Spaniard.

Tsitsipas also displayed valour. He saved two match points when he was serving at 2-5 down.

And he fought off another when trying to level at 5-5.

That he took the third set into a shootout was commendable after being outclassed and on the verge of humiliation.

"I lost focus and Stefanos was playing better at the end but I am happy to overcome the problem," said  Alcaraz.

Tsitsipas began in scintillating fashion. Three aces sped past Alcaraz who replied with an unruffled hold of service.

Change
Then out came the knife.
Three break points were saved but a first double fault brought up a fourth opportunity. A third forehand winner gave Alcaraz the initial advantage.

Another break came courtesy of a stupendous running forehand down the line to bring up 5-2 and Alcaraz pocketed the opener 6-2 after 30 minutes when a Tsitsipas forehand flew long.

The 20-year-old, seeking a first appearance in the last four in Paris, ran away with the second set as the spectators veered from reverence at the savage beauty before them to roaring for resuscitation.

Chance
There seemed faint hope of the latter when Alcaraz notched up his first match point. But it took him the best part of an hour to finish off his ailing opponent.

"I've not a lot of things to say," said Tsitsipas who lost in the 2021 final. "He played great. It wasn't fun in the first two sets. I felt terrible."

Alcaraz will take on the third seed Novak Djokovic on Friday in the semi-final after the veteran Serb came from a set down to eliminate the 11th seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 in three hours and 39 minutes.

In the women's draw, the second seed Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus beat the unseeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last four in Paris for the first time.

Svitolina, playing in her first Grand Slam tournament since having her first child, was booed by spectators after refusing to shake Sablenka's hand at the end of the match in protest over Belarusia's part in the advance of Russian armed forces into Ukraine. 

Sabalenka will take on Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic who got past the 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to move into her first French Open semi-final.