Stefanos Tsitsipas has been effusive in his reward of world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, because the Greek fifth seed described the smiling murderer as one of many greatest obstacles in tennis forward of their last-eight conflict on the French Open.
Former Roland Garros runner-up Tsitsipas outclassed Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner 7-5 6-3 6-0 on Sunday to arrange a quarter-final showdown with prime seed Alcaraz, the place he’ll hope to seal a primary win over the Spaniard of their fifth assembly.
“The clash we’ve been all waiting for. Everyone was expecting it, weren’t they? It’s here. It’s game on,” Tsitsipas, who had described Alcaraz as a breath of contemporary air to tennis for his charisma and fixed smiles, advised reporters.
Tsitsipas’ most up-to-date assembly with the 20-year-old Spanish star was on the clay courts of Barcelona, the place he was comprehensively overwhelmed 6-3 6-4.
The Greek fell to a three-set defeat on the identical venue a yr earlier.
“Carlos is someone that keeps the intensity high at all times. He’s someone that’s not going to give you gaps where his attention isn’t there,” Tsitsipas mentioned.
“He’s very hyper. He’s very energetic and you can see that on the court.
“He provides a number of that into the rallies, into his rituals when he’s on the market taking part in the sport. He has a number of that when he performs. It has helped him rather a lot.
“He has that smile that he said obviously helps him a lot.
“Right now he is one of many greatest obstacles and challenges for any participant to compete towards. It pushes us all to be higher.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
