Paris, France) – Friday night’s round at Roland Garros saw fairly low-key victories for Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Both won their matches in straight sets and advanced to the knockout stages with authority. The Spaniard and the Greek are in the same quadrant of the table and could meet in the quarter-finals.

Leader of the world ranking, Alcaraz dominated the duel against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, registering the partials of 6/1, 6/4 and 6/2. Despite his young age, the Spaniard is already in his third appearance at Roland-Garros and is trying to go beyond the quarter-finals, a stage he reached last year in Paris.

One more for @carlosalcaraz #Roland Garros pic.twitter.com/wjX5OCrzXM

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2023

After dominating the first set, earning two breaks and facing no break points, Alcaraz needed to show some reaction power in the second set. The Spaniard lost 4-1, but took advantage of the instability of his serve and Shapovalov’s shots. The Canadian committed six double faults and committed 19 errors in the partial, granting five consecutive games to the Spaniard. In the third set, the world number 1 managed two new breaks and no longer saw his serve threatened.

In the dispute to keep the first place in the standings, the victory of Alcaraz this Friday already prevents Tsitsipas from reaching the number after Roland Garros. Former leader and current third Novak Djokovic has a chance to return to the top if he wins the title, or second if the Spaniard doesn’t reach the quarter-finals.

Youth duel against Musetti in the round of 16
The 20-year-old Spaniard will have a new generation duel in the round of 16 against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, a year his senior and 18th, who beat Briton Cameron Norrie by 6/1, 6/2 and 6/4 . Musetti won the duel between them in the Hamburg final last year, while Alcaraz’s only win against the Italian was in the 2020 challenger Trieste.

Tsitsipas will face the Austrian coming in qualifying

THE HIT OF THE DAY 🤯🤯🤯@steftsitsipas | @Roland Garros pic.twitter.com/eDqObqpi0T

— ATP Tour en Español (@ATPTour_ES) June 2, 2023

Already world number 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas has beaten former Argentinian top 10 Diego Schwartzman, currently 95th, by 6/2, 6/2, 6/3. The Greek put constant pressure on Schwartzman’s service games to create 18 break points and take advantage of six break points in the game and only lost one service game. It was his fifth win in seven games against the 30-year-old Argentine.

Tsitsipas, 24, was a finalist in the last edition in Paris and is still fighting for his first Grand Slam title. In the round of 16, he faces one of the main surprises of the tournament, the Austrian from the qualifications and 118th in the standings Sebastian Ofner, who beat the Italian Fabio Fognini by 5/7, 6/3, 7/5, 1/6 and 6/4.