Stefanos Tsitsipas calls Carlos Alcaraz his rival as tennis fans laugh off notion based on records

Friday, 19 July 2024 at 21:30

Stefanos Tsitsipas has named Carlos Alcaraz as his 'biggest rival' on tour, despite statistics suggesting otherwise. The Greek player is competing in the Swiss Open Gstaad , where he entered as the top seed and is preparing for the semi-finals against the 6th seed Matteo Berrettini.

With just six encounters between them, ‘Carlitos’ doesn’t even rank among the top 15 players with the most matches against Tsitsipas in ATP-level tournaments, and the Spaniard has a dominant head-to-head record.

Alcaraz dominates Tsitsipas in Head-to-Head

The 25-year-old Greek did not have a successful grass-court season, with only two wins and two losses, including an early exit in the second round of Wimbledon. Tsitsipas's inconsistent year has been costly, recently dropping out of the top 10 in a closely contested ranking battle.

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World No. 12 Tsitsipas was asked at the tournament about his biggest career rival and gave a curious response: "Hi Stefanos, who's your biggest rival on tour?" he was asked in a press conference. "I'd probably say... Carlos Alcaraz," Stefanos Tsitsipas responded.

Tsitsipas’s answer is somewhat surprising, considering Alcaraz has a dominant 6-0 head-to-head record against him. The Spaniard leads in sets won by a resounding 15-3. Additionally, they are not even from the same generation, making Tsitsipas’s response more intriguing.

Stefanos Tsitsipas at 2024 French Open.

Currently, the player Tsitsipas has faced the most is his contemporary Alexander Zverev. They have met 15 times, with Tsitsipas leading the rivalry 10-5. The Greek also won their only Grand Slam encounter in the 2021 French Open semi-finals after five sets.

Tsitsipas has faced Daniil Medvedev 13 times since 2018, with the Russian leading 9-4. Medvedev won the first five matches, but since the 2019 ATP Finals, they have split the last eight matches evenly. Matches against Medvedev have often been tense both on and off the court.

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Another significant rivalry for Tsitsipas is against Alex De Minaur, with whom he has played 12 matches. Tsitsipas leads this head-to-head 11-1 in matches since 2018. The only triumph for De Minaur was at quarterfinals in the 2024 Mexican Open Currently, there are 15 players with more head-to-head encounters against Tsitsipas, including Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev, Dominic Thiem, Rafael Nadal, and Jannik Sinner, among others.

Here you can find the reaction of some fans on social media: