Tennis
The Greek, winner in Monte Carlo, praises Alcaraz, with whom he could meet this Friday in the quarterfinals of the Conde de Godó
Stefanos Tsitsipas, first seeded at the Conde de Godó Barcelona Open tournament, stated that he “absolutely” feels “favorite” to win this year’s trophy. “Although Rafa is not here [Nadal], here there are always great players who usually achieve very good results on clay and I will have to give my best if I want to get the victory. I don’t feel like a favorite at all, ”said the Greek player on Tuesday, who has just lifted the title of champion at the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, the first major tournament of the season on clay, where Carlos Alcaraz lost against Korda.
On the Barcelona clay he will debut this afternoon against the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka, who yesterday got rid of Pedro Martínez, and in the quarterfinals he could face the Murcian Carlos Alcaraz, one of the great revelations of the circuit in this 2022 and of whom he was full of praise. The Greek has not forgotten his defeat last year against the player from El Palmar at the US Open. In addition, three weeks ago in Miami, Tsitsipas also knelt before Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil in the round of 16 of a tournament that the young Murcian tennis player would end up winning.
«Carlos Alcaraz is one of the most difficult rivals you can face today. He is very complete on all surfaces, as well as a good guy. And I think he will compete for many titles in the future. I’m still looking for a way to beat him. It is not easy, far from it », he indicated about the Murcian player.
“Nice rivalry”
The Greek is clear that Carlos Alcaraz has reached the elite to stay “for many years” and believes that in the future they can build a “beautiful rivalry” in the dispute for the great titles of the circuit. He highlighted the humility and tireless work of the Murcian and assured that he is “prepared” to achieve his first victory against him. The normal thing is that they meet this Friday in the quarterfinals of this Count of Godó.
For that, both must overcome the first two rounds of the tournament. Alcaraz opens this Wednesday from 4:00 p.m., against the South Korean Soonwoo Kwon, number 71 in the world. It will be the second appearance of the player from El Palmar in Barcelona, after losing last year in the first round against the American Frances Tiafoe. The match can be seen openly through Teledeporte and on the RTVE website. It also gives #Come on.
On Tuesday, the Valencian Carlos Taberner gave the big surprise by eliminating in just 66 minutes (6-3 and 6-0) the American Sebastian Korda, executioner of Alcaraz in Monaco.
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