Carlos Alcaraz reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros (against Novak Djokovic) at just 20 years old, the Iberian’s relationship with Paris has always been special.

Carlos AlcarazPhoto: Jean Catuffe/Dppi/Zuma Press/Profimedia

>> What does Alcaraz have to do to beat Djokovic at Roland Garros

Carlos Alcaraz, under 13, to duel with Novak Djokovic for entry to the Roland Garros final

In 2015, Garcia (then just 12 years old) participated in the fourth draw of the Longines Future Tennis Aces (Roland Garros for players under 13). The court was set up right under the Eiffel Tower, but Carlos was knocked out in the semifinals by Xiaofei Wang 2-4, 4-1, 7-1.

The Chinese outlasted Holger Roon (now 6th ATP) in the quarterfinals and beat Jack Pinnington Jones (814 ATP) in the final, but he is currently only ranked 743rd in the world.

Alcaraz returned to Paris in 2019 but was eliminated in the first round by American Toby Alex Kodat (now 536th ATP), 6-4, 6-1.

Carlos made his senior debut in 2020, but the Spaniard failed to get past the first round of qualifying, losing to Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.

The Iberian has fared much better in his subsequent appearances at Roland Garros: the third round in 2021, the quarters in 2022 and the semifinals in 2023 (he will face Novak Djokovic).

Carlos Alcaraz – Novak Djokovic will take place on Friday, June 9, no earlier than 15:45.

According to Paris organizers, the star-studded match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will be the second of the day from Philippe Chatrier and will start no earlier than 15:45 Romanian time.

After the duel between the Iberian and the Serb, another semi-final will take place: Casper Ruud – Oleksandr Zverev. This game will not start until 18:30.

Watch Roland Garros matches live on Eurosport.

Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Novak Djokovic (3) / direct matches 1-0 / LiveBLOG on HotNews.ro

Casper Ruud (4) vs. Oleksandr Zverev (22) / 1-2

  • Previously, Carlos and Novak met only once on the ATP circuit, in Madrid in 2022, in the semifinals. The Iberian won, 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5).

The Roland Garros tournament takes place from May 28 to June 11, has a total prize pool of 49.6 million euros, and is the 127th tournament. Iga Sviatek and Rafael Nadal (14-time winner in Paris) became the champions of the title.