Stefanos Tsitsipas put a stop to Matteo Arnaldi’s great adventure in Paris on Sunday. Trailing by a set and a break, the Greek finally won in four sets against the Italian, 35th in the world, in the round of 16 at Roland-Garros (3-6, 7-6 [4], 6-2, 6-2, in 3h11′). The number 9 seed is thus in the quarterfinals of the tournament for the fourth time in his career and will meet Carlos Alcaraz there on Tuesday, who defeated Félix Auger-Aliassime at the same time.
In control since the start of the week, Tsitsipas passed his first big test against Arnaldi who rode for a good hour and a half on the wave of confidence that had been carrying him lately. Faller Friday of Andrey Rublev, 6th in the ATP, after having taken out two Frenchmen (Arthur Fils then Alexandre Müller), the Italian twirled in the wind of the Suzanne-Lenglen court. His supersonic movements allowed him to make a minimum of errors (only 4 unforced errors in the first set), his long-line backhand wreaked havoc and he was clinically effective on break points (his first two converted) .
Above all, his service got him out of complicated situations (83% of points won behind his first ball in the first set), when it was not Tsitsipas who was collecting opportunities on unforced errors, and he was more inspired than his opponent on the important points. He thus found himself at 6-3, 5-3 in his favor, and 0-30 on the service of Greek, author of two double faults in a row.
This is one of my greatest comebacks.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded number 9.
It was then that the three-time winner of the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000, who was playing his eighth final in a row at Roland-Garros on Sunday, found the sacred fire again. “I had to really get off my butt, he smiled after the meeting on the court, at Fabrice Santoro’s microphone. It’s one of my best comebacks, because the momentum was really for him. I tried my best to make him run, but nothing seemed to work. But I stayed in it, I always had the feeling that I could turn this match around. »
Until then, between gestures of humor towards his clan and a mark announced “out” on a forehand from Arnaldi which had cleared the line, Tsitsipas saved three set points on his serve, with audacity and accuracy. And there, it was the turn of the 23-year-old Italian, who was only in his second round of 16 at a Grand Slam (defeat in three sets against Carlos Alcaraz at the last US Open), to tense up. A double fault then a forehand error gave the 9th player in the world the break, not without having missed a fourth opportunity to lead two sets to nothing. Once the tie-break came, Tsitsipas relied on his delicious forehand and the angles he opened with to maintain the positive dynamic finally underway.
The fourth set, a formality for the Greek
Once he gained the upper hand, the Greek never gave up. He broke from the start in the third and fourth sets, played his offensive and sparkling game (64 winning shots, including 51 forehands!) by settling on the baseline. From then on, he no longer let Arnaldi breathe, surviving on his service games (21 break points conceded in total) and in apnea from running to the four corners of the court. The work of a Tsitsipas who is gaining strength, like one of the favorites for final victory that he is.
