French Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas downs Sebastian Ofner to set Carlos Alcaraz showdown in QFs
Jun 05, 2023
Paris [France], June 5 : Stefanos Tsitsipas extended his perfect run in the ongoing 2023 French Open as he breezed past Austrian Sebastian Ofner in the fourth round of Roland Garros on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
With the victory, Tsitsipas set a blockbuster quarterfinals showdown at French Open 2023 against Carlos Alcaraz.
After Alcaraz displayed masterclass performance form earlier in the day against Lorenzo Musetti, Tsitsipas replied with a statement performance of his own, losing serve just once en route to a 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 victory.
Ofner fought back early and was poised to force his favourite opponent into a first-set tie-break. But when the Austrian hit a forehand wide on set point, Tsitsipas took advantage to take the lead.
The Greek star hit 27 winners to just 12 unforced errors in the one-hour, 48-minute clash. He has not lost a set since the first round against Jiri Vesely.
In three of his previous four appearances at the clay-court major, the fifth seed has advanced to the quarterfinals. This season, the 24-year-old has played his greatest tennis at the majors, reaching the final of the Australian Open.
"Today's performance was good, actually. I'm not really sure how the first game was, because I didn't feel that great coming from my end. But I picked up fast. I kept the focus locked in. I felt like I read his game at some point. I felt like I was getting into the match stronger and stronger. More games and more opportunities I got to kind of hit balls and stay in rallies and read rallies. I got a sense of how I can win more points against him. It helped a lot," ATP.com quoted Tsitsipas as saying.
"I need to play good tennis. Carlos is someone that keeps the intensity high at all times. He's someone that is not going to give you gaps where his attention is not there. He's very energetic, and you can see that on the court. He adds a lot of that into the rallies, into his rituals when he is out there playing the game," Tsitsipas said.
