Roland Garros Previews: Tsitsipas vs. Arnaldi, Jabeur vs. Tauson, Alcaraz vs. Auger-Aliassime

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Matteo Arnaldi

It’s hard to believe these two are so close in age. The 25-year-old Tsitsipas is an almost-grizzled veteran, while the 23-year-old Arnaldi is a newcomer to the top level of the sport—he also looks younger than his age. But if you didn’t know the Italian before this tournament, you should know him now. He surprised No. 29 seed Arthur Fils in the first round, and then *really* surprised sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the third round.

Pulling off another shocker on Sunday will be a bigger ask. Tsitsipas has had his game together since the start of the clay swing, and seems to be peaking at the right time. He has dropped one set in three matches, and had no rouble with a potentially difficult opponent, Zhang Zhizhen, in his last match.

Tsitsipas and Arnaldi have never played, but the Greek says he has been doing his research in preparation for this day.

“I have been keeping an eye on him the last six months, I would say, when he really started making bigger appearances on the ATP Tour,” Tsitsipas says of Arnaldi. “He’s definitely someone that gets out on the court and fights repetitively. He doesn’t give up. I’ve noticed that. He’s a very good fighter.”

“It’s almost like a river,” Tsitsipas says of Arnaldi’s fighting spirit. “You have to find ways around it, and reroute it, and figure it out.”

That sounds as if Tsitsipas will look to disrupt Arnaldi’s game by varying his attack. With his one-handed backhand and ability to rush the net, he does have ways of doing that. Arnaldi, by contrast, is a more one-dimensional baseline brawler and speed merchant. With his confidence surging, he may win the shot-making battle for a while, but I would expect Tsitsipas to, as he says, find a way around him in the end. Winner: Tsitsipas

Ons Jabeur vs. Clara Tauson

Just two years ago, Jabeur came to Roland Garros as one of the favorites for the title. She had won Madrid and made the final in Rome, and her varied spins and good hands make her a natural on clay. But her reliance on surprise, low-margin shots also makes her prone to bad days, and she had one in the first round.

Two years later, the Tunisian is far from a favorite. Since the start of March, she’s 4-6, and she lost in the opening round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. She’ll also turn 30 at the end of the summer. But maybe less attention suits her. Jabeur has made it through two hard-fought matches, against Camila Osorio and Leylah Fernandez.

Now she’ll take on Tauson for the first time. The 21-year-old Dane was once a junior world No. 1 with high expectations of professional success. So far, she’s only had a modicum of it, and she came to Paris ranked 72nd. But she upset No. 9 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, and she still has the slugger’s power that made her such a hot prospect three years ago. Winner: Jabeur

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Félix Auger-Aliassime

It looks and sounds as if Alcaraz’s forearm injury is a thing of the past. Despite feeling “weird” about swinging with full force earlier in the tournament, he has dropped just one set in three matches, and seems more confident with each passing presser.

“I felt really well,” Alcaraz said after his straight-set win over Sebastian Korda on Friday. “Moving on the court, hitting the balls, physically I felt amazing, honestly.”

That’s probably not music to the ears of Auger-Aliassime. The Spaniard and the Canadian have played four completed matches, and split them 2-2. But Alcaraz has won the last two, both in straight sets at Indian Wells, in 2023 and 2024. The slow hard courts there are fairly comparable to the clay they’ll be playing on in Paris on Sunday.

Auger-Aliassime, however, seems to be a different player than he was just a couple of months ago. He made a final in Madrid, and he beat 15th seed Ben Shelton with surprising ease early on Saturday.

“I feel like I have more and more belief in my game and what I do,” Auger-Aliassime says. “Obviously, I go out tomorrow playing what I know, doing what I do well. If I do that, then let’s see during the match how it goes.”

What does FAA do well? The serve-plus-one is his bread and butter; he’ll look to run around and hit his forehand as often as possible. Alcaraz will look to get the ball into his weaker backhand side and go from there. With Auger-Aliassime’s burgeoning confidence, and Alcaraz’s penchant for mid-match lulls, this should be a good one. Winner: Alcaraz