Roland Garros, the quarterfinals are underway. The first to take the court will be the Italian, engaged against Dimitrov: predictions.
Quarterfinal time rolls around in Paris. Eight are left to contend for the second Slam of the year, the only one on clay. Among the survivors is Jannik Sinner, who in this Roland Garros, in addition to dreaming of putting his second Major in his trophy cabinet after his historic triumph at the Australian Open, is also pursuing his goal of becoming world number one for the first time.
The San Candido native, who landed in France with baggage chock-full of doubts and questions-his season on the chopped brick has been conditioned by hip discomfort-he sets his sights on what would be his first Parisian semifinal after having come close four years ago. Immaculately navigated his way to the round of 16, with Eubanks, Gasquet and Kotov falling, one after the other, like skittles. The only one to trouble him so far has been the unsuspected Frenchman Moutet, who was able to put him on the ropes in the first set of the eighth final. However, the transalpine player’s fury subsided starting in the second set, with the Italian instead surging and re-establishing the hierarchy (2-6 6-3 6-2 6-1). Between him and the coveted semifinal now stands Grigor Dimitrov, recently challenged in the Miami Masters 1000 final (and swept in two sets). This is the fifth head-to-head match between the Italian and the Bulgarian, whose only victory came in Rome in 2020 against a promising but still immature Sinner. Dimitrov has also only dropped one set so far, against Belgium’s Bergs. While clay is not his natural habitat, he is surprising in Paris in terms of consistency.
Last Sunday he had his way against Poland’s Hurkacz, set in just under three hours. Beating Sinner lately is the equivalent of climbing a mountain with his bare hands, but it would not be a surprise if the current world No. 10 could win at least one set.
Tsitsipas and the “black beast” Alcaraz
The most intriguing quarterfinal, however, is the one between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Carlos Alcaraz, respectively number 9 and number 3 in the world. The Greek has been reborn on clay after very difficult months and aims to have his say in Paris as well, a Slam he came close to in 2021 by losing in the final to Djokovic.
Last Sunday the Athenian tennis player won in four sets over Arnaldi of Italy, who had managed to create some headaches for him in the first partial. As soon as he took his measure, however, the match went downhill. Alcaraz, on the other hand, conceded something only in the second round to Dutchman de Jong, then came two clear victories against Korda and Auger-Aliassime. The record only gives comfort to the Spaniard, who has prevailed five times out of five against the Greek. He will not be 100% (he is also coming from an injury) but we believe that Tsitsipas again this time has no chance with one of the three main favorites for the final victory. We predict, in any case, a match of at least four sets.
Roland Garros: possible winners
Sinner in Dimitrov-Sinner.
Alcaraz in Tsitsipas-Alcaraz
Roland Garros games predictions
Dimitrov-Sinner (over 36.5).
Tsitsipas-Alcaraz (over 36.5)
