Stefanos Tsitsipas stands as a barrier in Novak Djokovic’s frantic quest for the only major trophy missing from the legendary Serb’s collection, the gold medal at the Olympic Games.
On the evening of Thursday (20:00GR – ERT1), in one of the most iconic courts in the world, the Philippe Chatrier, the Greek champion will face history and the greatest tennis player of all time, in the significant quarterfinal of the Olympic tennis tournament in Paris.
This will be their 14th meeting, with the 37-year-old from Belgrade holding a clear advantage in their head-to-head record with 11 wins and only 2 losses. In fact, he has emerged victorious in their last 10 encounters. Tsitsipas’s last victory was in Shanghai in 2019!
This will be the 3rd time they meet at the Philippe Chatrier, with the two previous matches at the Roland Garros center court being decided by narrow margins.
The positive news for the top Greek tennis player is that he is catching Djokovic in a not-so-good period for the Serb. Nole has not won a title so far this season and is coming off a knee surgery, which, however, did not prevent him from reaching another final at Wimbledon, even though he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
Everyone talks about a golden opportunity that lies ahead for the Greek champion; however, even under these circumstances, he will need to make a leap and chase a small miracle since he is not going through the best period of his career either.
The winner of the big match will already know their opponent for the semifinals, which will be determined from the matchup of the defending gold medalist, Alexander Zverev, against the in-form Lorenzo Musetti (15:30GR – Suzanne Lenglen).
In the first men’s quarterfinal on the Philippe Chatrier (15:00GR), Carlos Alcaraz, free from doubles obligations, will face Tommy Paul, who is not known for his clay court game, and the Spaniard is certainly the heavy favorite for a place in the semifinals.
This will be their 6th encounter, with Alcaraz leading 3-2 in wins, the most recent being in the quarterfinals of his title run at Wimbledon 2024.
The Alcaraz-Paul pair crosses over in the semifinals with that of Casper Ruud against Felix Auger-Aliassime, who will meet at 17:00GR at Suzanne Lenglen.
On the evening of Thursday, we will also know the women’s pair that will compete in the final on Saturday in Paris.
Iga Swiatek faces the Chinese player, Qinwen Zheng, in the opening match of the Philippe Chatrier (13:00GR), while in the evening session (22:00GR), the 2nd semifinal will take place between Donna Vekic (Croatia) and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Slovakia).
PARIS 2024 MEN’S SINGLES DRAW | WOMEN’S SINGLES DRAW | SCHEDULE (-1h)