Stefanos Tsitsipas reaches cruising speed in Paris | ATP Tour

Roland Garros

Tsitsipas reaches cruising speed in Paris

The Greek will face Arnaldi in 4R at Roland Garros

May 31, 2024

In the range of candidates for the title at Roland Garros, the name of Stefanos Tsitsipas always occupies a prominent place. Much more so after performances like this Friday, where the Greek confirmed his favorite status by advancing to the second week in Paris.

The No. 9 seed completed an impeccable performance against Zhizhen Zhang to qualify for the fourth round of the Grand Slam on clay, where he won 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, in one hour and 31 minutes .

Tsitsipas reached 25 victories at Roland Garros, after beating the Chinese. In addition, his victory guaranteed him a ticket to the round of 16, a round that he has reached at least in all his participations since 2019.

Finalist in the 2021 edition, his clay court numbers on this European tour rise to 84.2% victory success rate (16-3), winning the title at the ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, in addition to playing in the final at the ATP 500 in Barcelona and the quarterfinals at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome.

The Greek was very confident against Zhang with his serve, with which he won 83% of the first and 78% of the seconds without granting a single break option to his rival. Accompanied by 30 winners and only 15 unforced errors, he certified his passage to the fourth round.

In search of the quarterfinals, the same round that he registered last year, he will meet Matteo Arnaldi, the great protagonist of the day. The Italian signed one of the biggest victories of his career this Friday at Roland Garros, where he surprised sixth seed Andrey Rublev 7-6 (8), 6-2, 6-4 in the third round. The Italian managed to defeat a Top 10 for the third time.

The No. 35 in the PIF ATP Rankings managed to save a set point in the first set, trailing 5-6, before linking three consecutive points that allowed him to take the lead on the scoreboard.

Arnaldi hit 47 winners, according to Infosys ATP statistics, to avenge his loss in Vienna to Rublev and leave the Lexus ATP Head2Head at 1-1. The victory allows the Italian to rise to the highest position of his career as No. 34 in the PIF ATP Rankings, something that seemed very far away just 12 months ago, when he arrived at Roland Garros as world No. 106.

“I was very nervous at the end, because I was going to serve for the match to achieve one of the victories of my life,” Arnaldi acknowledged. “But I controlled it very well… I was focused on myself and doing things well.”

In the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the second time – he also did it at the 2023 US Open – the 23-year-old Italian will face Stefanos Tsitsipas or Zhang Zhizhen.

Rublev, who won his second ATP Masters 1000 crown in Madrid this year, is the highest-ranked player to fall so far in the French tournament.