10:47
Excerpt: The Boy Who Would Be King (of France)
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the first French Open men’s semi-final between Novak Djokovic, who started the year by winning the Australian Open, his 22nd Grand Slam title, and Carlos Alcaraz , who ended last year by winning her first at the US Open.
Alcaraz, “the most complete 20-year-old player I have ever seen” according to John McEnroe, made short work of Stefanos Tsitsipas in a 6-2, 6-1. Won 7-6, using that amazing array of shots to distract his opponent, mostly with that terrific forehand drop shot. He is the No. 1 seed and the favorite, despite Djokovic’s record, his taste for fighting and his undiminished ability to look like a giant octopus battling possible suffocation.
“He deserves his success, no doubt,” said Djokovic of Alcaraz. “He works hard and he’s already a very complete player and he’s only 20. So we only played Madrid once last year, 7-6 in third for him. Most tournaments this year, we were not in the same table, but we are there.
“It’s the game a lot of people want to see. This is definitely the biggest challenge for me so far in the tournament. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. He’s definitely a guy to beat here. I’m looking forward to it.”
They both reached the semi-finals dropping just one set, but Alcaraz has been the most impressive, spending three and a half hours less on the court than Djokovic in his five matches so far.
The Murcian chic has spoken of his excitement at finally being able to play Djokovic again after their lonely encounter last year, which he won by the narrowest of margins at the Madrid Open, 67, 7-5, 7-6. “Since the draw,” he said, “everyone was expecting this game, the semi-final against Novak. Me too. I really want to play this game. Since last year, I really wanted to play against Novak again. We are both playing at a very good level. I will enjoy it.
“Of course for me it’s amazing to make history, to play a semi-final with a legend like Novak. So it’s going to be a great game for me. I would say the game we played “Last year doesn’t affect this one too much. We both learned a lot from that game, so it’s going to be totally different, and let’s see what happens on Friday.”
We are about to find out.
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