The semi-final of Roland Garros who will play this friday Novak Djokovic y Carlos Alcaraz it will be much more than a tennis match. It will be a kind of dramatization of the times with airs of change and revolution that are experienced in the men’s circuit. On one side of the net, there will be the magic of a Golden Age, of a Big 3 who refuses to deliver the post, represented in Paris by a Serb who wants to enlarge his legend. On the other, the talent and freshness of a Next Gen with a huge future -and already a great present- personified in the figure of a Spanish man hungry for glory. All framed in a duel that could also define a change at the top of the ranking and, for many, definitively put in check the hegemony of more than two decades of the “old guard”.
Seasonings more than attractive for the match that will be played in the stadium Philip Chatriernot before 9.45 in our country, and that will be the highlight of a day that will close with the clash between the Norwegian Casper Ruud and the german Alexander Zverevfor the other ticket to the decisive instance.
At from Absent y Carlitos It will be a collision of titans between experience and youth.
The 36-year-old Serbian arrived in Paris with a clear objective: to lift his 23rd Grand Slam and break the parity he shares with Rafael Nadal (absent in Paris for the first time since 2005) to become the top winner of Majors of history. The search for these types of iconic brands, he said on more than one occasion, is one of the greatest motivations at this point in his career. And the young man from Murcia is one of the last “obstacles” he needs to overcome to achieve that goal.
Alcaraz, 20, is on the hunt for his second “big one”, after the one he won in the US Open last year and that allowed him to become the youngest number one in history. But before he wants to get into his second final (the one in New York is the only one he has played so far). The Balkan? He already has 33 in his record.
If he beats Djokovic, champion in the French capital in 2016 and 2021 (and a finalist four other times), the Spaniard will also ensure his position as leader of the ranking. Otherwise, he will give the Serb the chance to steal his first place, for which Nole will need to shout champion afterwards.
This will be just chapter number two in the history between the two. The only precedent is the semifinal of the Madrid Masters 1000 from last year. Alcaraz, with just turned 19 years old and in the ninth step of the classification, defeated Djokovic in three and a half hours, at that time he was number one, in a great match he was later chosen as the best of the year by the ATP. He went 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 and 7-6 (7-5). The Murcian, who had beaten Nadal in the quarterfinals, beat Zverev days later and kept the crown.
“Since last year I really want to play against Novak again. We’re both at a high level and I’m looking forward to that game. I’m going to enjoy it,” said the Spaniard, after going over in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas -6-2, 6-1 and 7-6 (7-5) with superb tennis- and sign what is already his best historical performance in the “big” French.
Against the Greek, seeded fifth, Carlitos He played “one of the best games” of his life and then assured: “I feel like one of the best in the world and I think I’m showing it. I have enormous confidence in all aspects of the game and I feel great both physically and mental as a tennis player”.
Still, the pressure was released and he anticipated: “Novak is one of the best in history. He has played 45 Grand Slam semifinals and all that experience makes him a favorite in any tournament in which he competes, because he is a true legend. I don’t think about there is no point in whether he will keep up with my pace, but rather the other way around; if I will be able to stand the level of demand that he sets”.
“This is the game that many people want to see,” said Djokovic after winning 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-4 over Karen Khachanovwho made him sweat in the first two sets – “The worst I’ve played so far,” he assured – and stole the only set he had given up so far.
“It will undoubtedly be the biggest challenge for me so far in the tournament. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. And without a doubt, Alcaraz is “the player” to defeat here. I’m looking forward to doing it,” added the Serbian .
“He’s a great guy, very nice on and off the pitch. He brings a lot of intensity to the matches. He reminds me of someone from his country who plays with his left hand…”, he commented with a smile, remembering Nadal, the biggest rival of his career and one of his teammates from that unforgettable Big 3, along with Roger Federer. “Carlitos he works hard and is a very complete player at only 20 years old. He deserves his success.”
Who arrives at the best time? Without a doubt, Alcaraz. The Spaniard shouted champion in Barcelona y Madrid in his preparation for Roland Garros, where he arrived with a record of 20 wins and two losses in the year on clay. Djokovic only played three tournaments, without great results: he lost in the round of 16. Montecarloin rooms of Banja Luka and in that same instance in Roma. And he added five celebrations and three falls on slow courts before disembarking in Paris, where, despite his firm gait, he did not dazzle or squander as much security as his rival this Friday.
The Serbian, however, was tired of showing in the past that he has a natural ability to bring out his best version at important moments and “to find solutions to all kinds of problems where others do not and turn around the most impossible situations.” , as analyzed Juan Carlos FerreroAlcaraz’s coach.
For this reason, it will not be an easy adversary for the Spanish to break. And vice versa.
“One (Djokovic) has experience. The other (Alcaraz) has legs and moves like Speedy Gonzalez. Carlitos can hit huge shots and hit very hard. Novak, to control and have precision like nobody else to apply pressure and simply make the opponent move as much as possible. I don’t know how to choose a favourite,” reflected Tsitsipas, after the beating that the Spaniard gave him.
Alcaraz-Djokovic. The duel that everyone wanted to see at Roland Garros. A semis with an early final flavor and too many extra seasonings. A clash that could define the fight for numbers and that will face the (perhaps) last gladiator of a Golden Era, which seems closer to ending, with the leader of a new generation with a bright future, who has already begun to write his own story. An unmissable match, wherever you look at it.
Ruud-Zverev, the forgotten semifinal
The expectation for the clash between Alcaraz and Djokovic made many forget that this Friday the other semis of the 2023 edition of Roland Garros will also be played. Not before 12.30 in Argentina, Casper Ruud y Alexander Zverev They will face each other in a match that will decide the second place in the final and that also promises to be a nice show.
The Norwegian, 24 years old and number four in the world, wants to get into the final instance of a Grand Slam for the third time. Last year, he lost in the last match in Paris against Nadal and months later he lost in the US Open with Alcaraz. After a difficult start to 2023, he recovered his game and his confidence on the clay tour (he won Estoril and reached the semifinals in Rome) and advanced steadily in the “big” French.
In quarters, he went down to the Danish Holger Runesixth in the ranking and who had eliminated him in the Italic forum, with a solid victory by 6-1, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3. “I am very happy. Perhaps it was my biggest victory of the year, if we take into account how the season has gone for me”, he commented
Zverev, 26 years old and 27th in the ranking, is going for his second final in a Major (he lost the one in Flushing Meadows 2020 with Dominic Thiem) and the first in Paris, where last year he lived a very hard time. Because he left in a wheelchair and crying from his semifinal duel against Nadal after suffering the tear of several ligaments in his right ankle, an injury that kept him away from the courts for the entire second half of 2022.
Recovered, a year later the German is once again among the top four in this competition, after putting an end to the dream of Thomas Etcheverry, whom he defeated 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and 6-4. But he wants more. “Last year was the most difficult of my life. It’s incredible to be in the semifinal of a Grand Slam again. I’m happy, but hopefully I have two more matches left,” she reflected.
It will be the first duel between the two in a Grand Slam. The face-to-face marks a clear superiority for Zverev, who won three of the four games they played in the past (he lost only the last one, in the quarterfinals of Miami 2022). But all the previous matches have been on slow pitches and this will be the first on clay, the Norwegian’s favorite surface.
2023-06-08 23:06:14
#Alcaraz #Djokovic #generations #fighting #place #grand #final
