As we head into the second week of Roland-Garros, Stefanos Tsitsipas is moving through the gears at just the right time
In what has been an unsettled week weather-wise, Stefanos Tsitsipas has been keeping it simple. He has reached the fourth round for the loss of just one set; in his last match, he engaged sixth gear and cruised past Zhizhen Zhang in 91 minutes dropping a meagre seven games as he did so.
All in all, the Greek is rather happy with the way everything is going.
“For me, the most fun out of all of this is when I'm able to come up with some great shots,” he said. “It's a lot of fun. Trust me, when you're able to get a good, clean contact with the ball and get it to land exactly where you're looking for it to land, there's no better satisfaction and feeling. That brings joy into your game.”
Matteo Arnaldi, though, might cast a shadow over Tsitsipas’s otherwise bright horizon. The 23-year-old Italian world No.35 reduced Andrey Rublev to a frustrated, furious wreck on Friday, removing him from the draw in straight sets. Tsitsipas is fully aware of the threat posed by Arnaldi and he has been doing his homework.
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT“I have been keeping an eye on him,” the Greek said. “I know exactly what kind of a profile of player he is because I saw him play in Barcelona and in Rome; I saw him play here. I have been keeping an eye on him the last six months. He's definitely someone that gets out on the court and fights. He doesn't give up. I've noticed that in him.
“He gets really into the game, and this is something that I for sure need to approach it with caution and build around it, find my ways around it. It's almost like a river: you have to find ways around it and reroute and figure it out.”
Arnaldi, too, has been trying to figure things out. Knowing that Rublev was faster than him and hit the ball harder than him, he devised a plan to disarm the No.6 seed and take away his power.
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT“I had a good tactic, and it worked. That's the good thing, like I could do it for the whole match,” he explained. “I try to do a lot of variation, to try to lead the rally, and I think I did it pretty well. One thing that I did very well was the serve. I served really well also in the important moments. That's what helped a lot.”
It helped him all the way into the second Grand Slam fourth round of his career (he reached the same round at the US Open last summer). But Tsitsipas has been to two Grand Slam finals before – one of them here – and his plans may be a little too grand for Arnaldi on Sunday.
Court Philippe-Chatrier, first match: Iga Swiatek vs Anastasia Potapova
It was Swiatek’s 23rd birthday on Friday and by way of celebration she booked her place in the fourth round with a straight-sets win. It was just another decent day at the office for the defending champion: no dramas, no shocks. Just the way she likes it.
In Potapova, she faces another birthday girl (she turned 23 the day before Swiatek) but there the similarity ends. She is ranked 40 places below Swiatek, she has won less in her entire career than Swiatek has this year ($3.5million to the Pole’s $4.2million) and she has won two singles titles to Swiatek’s 21 – four of which are Grand Slams. It will be a difficult task for Potapova.
Court Suzanne-Lenglen, first match: Marketa Vondrousova vs Olga Danilovic
Vondrousova knows all about her next opponent: she grew up playing Danilovic in the juniors and there are few secrets between them – even fewer since the Czech watched all of Danilovic’s emotional, rollercoaster win over Donna Vekic on Friday.
“It's going to be very tough on clay,” Vondrousova said. “She's doing an amazing job, so it's also fourth round and second week, so I think anything can happen now.”
Except that Danilovic has never been in a fourth round of a Grand Slam before while Vondrousova is the reigning Wimbledon champion and the Roland-Garros finalist of 2019. The odds are stacked in the Czech’s favour.
Court Philippe-Chatrier, second match: Coco Gauff vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto
That Gauff should be in the second week of Roland-Garros comes as no surprise; that Cocciaretto should be her opponent – that raised some eyebrows. The Italian world No.51 has already taken out two top-20 seeds (Beatriz Haddad Maia and Liudmila Samsonova) and she feels right at home on these courts (they remind her of home and the courts she grew up on).
She has played Gauff before, too. She lost that meeting in Dubai back in February but she knows what to expect today. “I try to not do the same errors,” she said. “I’ll try to be aggressive, try to do my game, and just fight every point.”
And that is exactly what Gauff is wary of. “I know she's a fighter,” the world No.3 said. “She fights all the time. No matter what the score is, she's not giving up until the last point.”
Court Philippe-Chatrier, third match: Carlos Alcaraz vs Felix Auger-Aliassime
Let's begin with a stat: Auger-Aliassime is one of the few players with a winning head-to-head record over Alcaraz. He leads 3-2. And the other side of that stat? He hasn’t beaten the Spaniard in two years.
Just to make Auger-Aliassime’s job even harder, Alcaraz is feeling on top of the world. His forearm injury is not quite forgotten but he is thinking of it less and less in matches, and against Sebi Korda on Friday he was clattering his forehand as and when he wanted to.
“Physically I felt amazing, honestly,” he said with his trademark smile. Felix will be pleased.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
