PARIS ( Associated Press) — Many people predicted that 19-year-old rising star Carlos Alcaraz of Spain would emerge as the French Open champion. One day it could be, but not yet. Instead it is Alexander Zverev who still has a chance to win his first Grand Slam title.
Zverev ended Alcaraz’s 14-match winning streak by beating him 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 76 (7) on Tuesday and reached the Roland Garros semifinals for the second straight year.
“I told him on the net ‘you are going to win the tournament many times, not just once,'” said third seed Zverev, a 2020 US Open semifinalist and gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics last year. “Hopefully I can win him before he starts … beating us.”
Zverev will now face the winner of the most anticipated and exciting quarter-final matchup between defending champion Novak Djokovic and 13-time winner of France Rafael Nadal. This duel is so important that it can be seen for free in France through the online streaming service that gives exclusive access to the night sessions on the main pitch.
The 59th meeting between Djokovic and Nadal is the first since the last French Open, when Djokovic won the semifinal in four sets.
This is the first duel between two men with at least 20 Grand Slam titles (Nadal 21 and Djokovic 20), the first between two men with at least 1,000 wins (Nadal 1,055 and Djokovic 1,005) and the first between two men with at least least 300 wins in a Grand Slam (Djokovic 327 and Nadal 302).
With Djokovic turning 35 on May 22 and Nadal turning 36 on Friday, who knows how many more chances they will have.
In women’s tournament action, 18-year-old American Coco Gauff will take on 28-year-old Italian Martina Trevisan who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal.
18th-seeded Gauff outclassed 2017 US Open champion and 2018 French Open finalist Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-2, while 59th-seeded Trevisan eliminated US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals with a Tour season high of four titles and a 32-4 record (20-1 on clay). This includes his victory over the 25-year-old Zverev in the Madrid Open final on May 8 — which was followed by Alcaraz’s triumph over Nadal and Djokovic at the same venue, making him the first teenager to overcome to the two greats in the same clay tournament.
At Roland Garros, sixth seed Alcaraz was bidding to become the youngest semi-finalist since Nadal reached the semi-final at the age of 19 in 2005.
But Zverev managed to fix a flaw in his résumé: the German entered the night with an 0-11 record in Grand Slam matches against opponents in the ATP Top 10.
