Stefanos Tsitsipas gets another Roland Garros quarterfinal clash with Carlos Alcaraz

Stefanos Tsitsipas was centimeters away from finding himself down two sets Sunday in the fourth round of Roland Garros.

For a little over an hour, Matteo Arnaldi was the competitor feeling the ball on the baseline. When he pulled the trigger on an inside-in forehand, it curved toward the line in the deuce court. The rally ender landed just out, confirmed with a mark check.

Arnaldi’s near-miss would prove to be a tide changer, though Tsitsipas had to save three additional set points along the way before taking control of the contest.

The 2021 finalist eventually pulled away, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2, in three hours and 14 minutes.Tsitsipas dominated the 5-8 shot exchanges, taking 50 of those points to 31 from the Italian’s side of the net.

Not long after the ninth seed advanced, world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz joined him to set a rematch of their 2023 quarterfinal.

Alcaraz overwhelmed No. 21 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0, firing 34 winners to 24 unforced errors to claim the pair’s first clay-court meeting.

Last year, Alcaraz routed Tsitsipas at the Paris major with a convincing 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory. The Greek memorably told press afterwards, “One thing that I'm going to try to avoid in the future is have melatonin pills and naps before matches because it clearly doesn't seem to be working.”

The two-time major winner has won all five of their prior clashes, with three of those wins coming on red dirt.

This time, it’s Alcaraz who’s rounded into form after missing all but one of his planned European clay-court events with a right forearm injury. Tsitsipas opened his spring swing by lifting a third Monte Carlo trophy and adding a Barcelona final showing the following week.