PARIS – Two weeks ago, before the start of play at the French Open, the key points for the tournament were set and a possible semi-final clash immediately attracted attention: #1 Carlos Alcarazthe next big thing in men’s tennis, against No.3 Novak Djokovicthe current big thing in men’s tennis.
The heightened anticipation wasn’t just because it would be fascinating to watch the two play at Roland-Garros. It would also be fascinating to see them play each other, period: they’ve only met once and that was 13 months ago when Alcaraz came out on top.
So get ready: Alcaraz and Djokovic will finally share the stage again on Friday at Court Philippe Chatrier, where they will fight for a place in the championship game.
“Everyone has been waiting for this game since the draw – the semi-final against Novak. Me too,” said Alcaraz after fulfilling half of his agreement by outclassing Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5) in the quarter-finals on Tuesday night. “I really want to play this game.”
A moment later, Alcaraz remarked: “If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
That mirrored word for word the phrase Djokovic had uttered hours earlier as he looked ahead after beating Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday: ” It’s definitely the biggest challenge for me.” , so far in the tournament. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. He’s definitely a guy to beat here. I look forward to it.”
The other men’s pairings for the Final Four should be determined on Wednesday, based on the winners of those quarter-finals: No. 22 Alexander Zverev vs. unseeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry and No. 4 Casper Ruud vs. No. 6 Holger Rune, a re-run of a controversial game in the same round a year ago in Paris.
The only previous game between Alcaraz and Djokovic took place on May 7, 2022 on red clay at the Madrid Masters. Alcaraz had eliminated Rafael Nadal in the previous round and his 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) victory over Djokovic made the Spaniard the first player to defeat these two titans of the sport in the same clay tournament .
The tennis world already knew about Alcaraz, but that really heralded his arrival. He then won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September, becoming the first teenager to finish a season ranked No. 1.
“He is ready to achieve great things in tennis. I don’t know if it will be this tournament, but of course I think he’s ready,” said Alcaraz’ coach, 2003 French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero. “He dreams a lot about what he can achieve, so I think one of the most important things is that he believes in himself and believes that he can go out there and win against anyone.”
Then why is everyone so interested in this particular game?
One player, Alcaraz, is considered the star of the future.
The other, Djokovic, is still a big star today: his championship at the Australian Open in January was his 10th in a span of 19 Majors (Nadal collected six of them; three other players took one each, including Alcaraz).
Alcaraz is 20; Djokovic is 36.
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Djokovic owns 22 Grand Slam titles, tied with Nadal for the most in men’s tennis history; Alcaraz owns one. On Friday, Djokovic will compete in a major semi-final for the 45th time and Alcaraz for the second time.
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“Well, one has experience; “The other has legs,” was Tsitsipas’ assessment. “One can throw huge, super big punches and the other prefers control over everything else, probably control and precision to apply pressure and just get the opponent moving as much as possible.”
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