FRENCH OPEN: TIM HENMAN REVEALS HOW STEFANOS TSITSIPAS CAN BEAT CARLOS ALCARAZ IN QUARTER-FINALS – ‘GOT TO TAKE RISKS’

During his match against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of the French Open, Tim Henman has claimed that Stefanos Tsitsipas has the potential to cause an upset. After coming back from a set down to defeat the challenging Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Sunday, the ninth seed from Greece will face the third seed from the world. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz overcame Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets to go to the round of eight at Roland-Garros for the third time in a row.

Tim Henman sheds light on the fact that Stefanos Tsitsipas needs to “take risks” in order to surprise Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open.

Henman explains that in order for Tsitsipas to become stunned by Alcaraz, he needs “take risks.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas, according to Tim Henman, has “got to take risks” in order to have any chance of defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of the French Open.
After coming from behind to defeat the unseeded Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Sunday, the Greek will face the electrifying world No. 3 in the round of eight at Roland-Garros. Meanwhile, Alcaraz breezed through his match against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 21st seed from Canada, on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

In the five times that Tsitsipas and Alcaraz have competed against one another, Tsitsipas has not been victorious. Their most recent matchup took place around this time last year, in the quarterfinals of the French Open.

As a result of a foot-fault call on the underarm service, Moutout was involved in a heated exchange with the Uber driver.
Alcaraz came out victorious in that one, beating the world No. 9 in straight sets, 6-1 6-2 7-6(5), and he has also beaten the Greek twice more on the European soil, in Barcelona in 2022 and 2023, the latter being in the final.
On the acryclic, they have competed against each other twice more, with Alcaraz prevailing in five sets at the 2021 US Open and then in straight sets at the last-16 stage of the Miami Masters. Both of these matches took place in the United States.
Now, they lock horns once more at a Grand Slam, and Eurosport analyst Henman believes that Tsitsipas has needed to come out hot in order to overcome the Spaniard.

Henman shared his explanation, saying, “Tsitsipas needs to be very proactive.”
“He’s the one that’s got to take risks, try and get his forehand into action as much as possible. That’s a lot about serve plus one. “If he can strike his places on serve and then seek to command early in the rallies. If Alcaraz is able to neutralise it and then get those balls up high on Tsitsipas’ backhand, that’s where he struggles. “From Tsitispas’ point of view, he’s going to be very, very relieved to have got through against Arnaldi. He was down a set and a break and Arnaldi had set points to go two sets to love. “Somehow, Tsitispas got that second set back under his belt to go in a set-all and then he went away with the third and fourth sets. You can see by that emotion at the end of the match, he’s very, very thrilled to go through.”

Fellow Eurosport pundit Alex Corretja, Alcaraz’s Spanish colleague, too thinks that Tsitsipas has got to come out strongly.
“I’m excited, because they played last year in the quarter-finals, but Stefanos was not in quite as good a shape as he is this year,” Corretja, a two-time finalist at Roland-Garros, said.
“He’s strengthening his backhand, which is essential for his game. He’s moving well; he’s aggressive off his forehand as always. I believe that he’s striking the backhand considerably better, moving his wrist much deeper. “Before, he held up his elbow high, which meant that it would always land short, so the opponent could attack. I can’t wait to see that battle because Carlitos is in extremely terrific shape also. Usually, he hurts him so much, but this time, Tsitsipas can do a little bit more. I still think Carlitos is the favourite. “Carlos told me that he loves the conditions a bit drier since the ball bounces higher. For Stefanos, it might help his game on his forehand. When you have a one-handed backhand, you struggle a bit more when the conditions are dry since the ball bounces high over your shoulder.
“If you can hit it [at waist height], you can play some drop shots and slice. Definitely, Stefenos will have to play very aggressively if he wants to have a chance.”