15:00
Head 2 Head
Only for the second time both players face each other in an official match. The only duel so far was at the Masters in Madrid a year ago. At that time, the Spaniard won the semifinals in three very tight sets and shortly afterwards also won the tournament.
14:55
Entry and coin toss
At that moment, our protagonists enter the Court Philippe-Chatrier. After a few steps of preparation, you meet with the French chair umpire Aurélie Tourte to vote at the net. The coin falls in favor of the Serb.
14:52
Alcaráz 2023
Of course, Alcaraz doesn’t have such a long list of achievements due to his young age. Ten tournament victories have already come together – such as the US Open title in 2022 and four Masters. After making a comeback from injury, the Iberian has been an instant hit this season, going far in almost every tournament, playing five finals and winning four. So Alcaraz really deserved the status as number 1 in the world, which they regained in May.
14:42
Alcaraz at the French Open
Alcaraz also lost only one set in the course of the tournament, which happened in the second round against the Japanese Taro Daniel. Otherwise, the top-seeded Spaniard knew how to convince, eliminated the Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli and then a number of seeded players in a convincing manner: Denis Shapovalov (26), Lorenzo Mussetti (17) and most recently Stefanos Tsitsipas (5). Above all, the three-set win against the Greek impressed – certainly also today’s opponent. The right-hander reached the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time. After Alcaraz was in the main draw for the first time in 2021 (third round), twelve months ago it ended in the quarter-finals.
14:32
Djokovic at Roland Garros
At the French Open, however, since his debut in 2005 there have been two manageable triumphs that Djokovic was able to celebrate in 2016 and 2021. He was a total of six times in the final. On three occasions, there was no getting past Rafael Nadal, the currently injured king of Roland Garros. In his 19th appearance, the Serb is 3rd seed and largely eliminated USA’s Aleksandar Kovacevic, Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics, 29th seed Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas. Only in the quarter-finals did he lose a set against the 11th seeded Russian Karen Khachanov.
14:22
Records upon records
Djokovic is already the record holder with 387 weeks as number 1 in the world. But there is more at stake for the right-hander, he wants to win his 23rd Grand Slam title in Roland Garros, shake off Rafael Nadal, who is still tied, and make himself the sole most diligent collector of major trophies. At Masters level, the Djoker is already that, there are 38 victories – including the Golden Masters, i.e. having won all current 1,000 tournaments at least once. Nobody else has done that. There are 93 career titles in total, including six ATP Finals. So Djokovic has won pretty much everything – and usually in large numbers.
14:12
Generational duel in the fight for number 1
Not only do two of the currently absolutely best tennis players meet here, it is also a generational duel. When 36-year-old Djokovic turned pro in 2003, 20-year-old Alcaraz had just seen the light of day. In addition to reaching a Grand Slam final, the number 1 is also at stake. If the Serb prevails today and wins the tournament on Sunday, he would replace his young rival at the top of the world rankings.
14:02
bon jour!
Welcome to the French Open! The men’s semi-finals are on the program today in Roland Garros. And before it’s Alexander Zverev’s turn in the early evening, we experience the absolute top duel between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, which is scheduled to start around 2:45 p.m.