Stefanos Tsitsipas — down a set and a break — rallied to defeat Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2 and advance to the quarterfinals of the French Open on Sunday.
The ninth seed, Tsitsipas was serving down 5-3 in the second set and fended off three set points to stay alive. Serving at 5-4, Arnaldi had one set point, but the Greek managed to fight it off and break his opponent’s serve to get back on track.
After the second-set tiebreaker, Tsitsipas was in firm command.
His reward for the comeback is a quarterfinal match Tuesday against third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who easily eliminated No. 21 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
Before thinking about the next round, Tsitsipas savored this victory in Paris.
“I had to push today. It was one of the craziest comebacks I have had,” he said. “The momentum seemed to be going his way the entire match. It was very frustrating on my end because I thought I was trying my best, trying to make him move, but nothing really seemed to be working.
“The spirit is the reason I managed to come back today. Even at 3-5 in the second set I felt that I could come back. That there was power in me to turn this match around and I think the game at 5-4 when I broke him was the biggest pleasure I experienced in tennis for a long time because I felt there was a chance. … It felt amazing.”
The win set up a Roland Garros quarterfinal rematch with Alcaraz, who defeated Tsitsipas in straight sets in 2023 as the top seed.
Tsitsipas is seeking his first Grand Slam title. He has 11 career titles, five of them on clay, and was leading Novak Djokovic in the French Open final in 2021 before Djokovic won the final three sets.
Clay also is the preferred surface for Alcaraz, with seven of his 13 titles on clay.
Alcaraz is now 15-3 at Roland Garros.
“I am really happy with my performance today,” Alcaraz said after his two-hour, 20-minute match. “I think I played a really high level of tennis. Really focused, no ups and downs in the match. That is something I am working on. I am really happy with everything, my serve, my movement, my shots.”
–Field Level Media
