Carlos Alcaraz faces ‘stern speaking to’ earlier than Novak Djokovic warfare at French Open
Mats Wilander has warned Carlos Alcaraz that he’ll face a ‘stern talking-to’ from his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero earlier than going up in opposition to Novak Djokovic within the French Open semi-finals on Friday night. Alcaraz managed to arrange a blockbuster assembly with the Serb by making mild work of Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight units on Tuesday, with the younger Spaniard enjoying a few of his greatest ever tennis to e book his place within the final 4 at Roland Garros.
Alcaraz breezed by the primary two units with out an excessive amount of issue as he made Tsitsipas look very common with a surprising show of precision and ability, though he appeared to drop his focus within the third when he was taken to a tiebreak by his Greek opponent. The 20-year-old ultimately recaptured his mojo to wrap up a powerful victory however Wilander believes that he won’t get away with the same lapse in focus when he faces Djokovic later this week.
“I was speechless,” stated Wilander on Eurosport as he ran the rule over Alcaraz’s efficiency in opposition to Tsitsipas. “I was actually sitting here and having a chat with a Norwegian tennis reporter and as soon as he started at 5-2 [in the third set], playing too many drop shots, we were both saying it’s now an exhibition and that’s exactly what happened.
“He let up his focus. Yes, wonderful match within the first two units and for a lot of the third, however on the similar time I guess Juan Carlos Ferreira goes to have a stern speaking to him that hey, you’ll be able to’t do this in opposition to Novak, you’ll be able to’t do this in opposition to any participant as a result of it may flip round. But wow, the extent is unbelievable.”
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Alcaraz’s semi-final match against Djokovic will mark their first battle with each other at a Grand Slam, although the Spaniard won the only meeting between them to date at last year’s Madrid Open. Both players have been on top form at Roland Garros so far and it seems as though the winner will be well-placed to wrap up the French Open title by beating one of Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, Alexander Zverev or Tomas Martin Etcheverry in this weekend’s final.
It remains to be seen whether Alcaraz will be able to get the job done against Djokovic when they go up against each other on Friday evening, but it seems clear that the reigning US Open champion is under no illusion regarding the scale of the challenge he faces against one of the sport’s greatest ever players.
“I might say this match, everybody will wish to watch,” he said when quizzed on facing Djokovic after beating Tsitsipas. “It’s going to be a extremely good match to play and to observe as properly. I actually wished to play this match as properly.
“I always say if you want to be the best you have to beat the best and Novak Djokovic right now is one of the best players in the world. It’s going to be a really tough challenge for me but I’m really looking forward to that match to play at such a great level.”