Stefanos Tsitsipas voiced his frustration over an “extended grunt” from Carlos Alcaraz during their quarter-final match at the French Open. The incident occurred during the second-set tiebreak when Tsitsipas, trailing Alcaraz, hit a return shot into the net following a loud noise from the Spaniard.
Tsitsipas complained to the umpire twice about the timing and duration of Alcaraz’s grunt, which he felt was disruptive. “When I’m about to hit the shot, there is an extended grunt,” Tsitsipas said. “The grunt is extended. It’s like a millisecond before I hit it.”
The crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier responded to Tsitsipas’s complaints with boos and whistles, showing their support for Alcaraz. Commentator John McEnroe noted, “That’s a loud grunt. I knew he was going to say that. He made the point but he’s going to lose some crowd support, so is it worth it? I get it though, because it did seem like it was a long grunt, but it’s not the first time Carlos has done it. You’ve got to be used to that.”
Tsitsipas continued to express his dissatisfaction with the grunting after losing the tiebreak, describing the noise as “borderline too much.” He elaborated, “It’s more that it happened when I was about to hit that forehand down the line, remember? There, it happened more. Before it was manageable, but that last forehand was a little bit borderline too much.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas is not happy about Carlos Alcaraz’ grunt.
He spoke to the umpire about it after the 2nd set tie break:
“I never complain about this but it’s frustrating. When I’m about to hit the shot… and moments before I hit the shot, I still hear the grunt. It’s not… pic.twitter.com/EXKiTBfGwg
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 4, 2024
Despite the complaints, Alcaraz maintained his focus and went on to win the match in straight sets. He will face Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.
Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2024
At the moment ranked no.9, the Greek played his last match on the 4th of June when he lost to world no.3 Carlos Alcaraz 6-3 7-6(3) 6-4 in the quarter of the French Open (draw).
This season Stefanos owns a compiled 28-10 match record. The Greek has won 1 title in Monte-Carlo. Stefanos reached the final in Barcelona.
Tsitsipas has scheduled to play next in Halle (Terra Wortmann Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 17th of June.
Alcaraz at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2024
WWWWLWLLWW At the moment ranked no.3, the Spaniard has a compiled 23-5 match record in 2024. Alcaraz is playing at the moment at the French Open where he managed to beat the world no.107 Jeff Wolf 6-1 6-2 6-1, the world no.176 Jesper De Jong 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2, the world no.28 Sebastian Korda 6-4 7-65 6-3, the world no.21 Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-3 6-1 and the world no.9 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-63 6-4.
Carlos Alcaraz will square off with the world no.2 Jannik Sinner in the semifinal. Their actual head to head record is 5-4 for Alcaraz.
Alcaraz clinched 1 title in 2024 in Indian Wells.
Carlos won 14 titles in his career: 4 on hard courts, 7 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 2 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Carlos Alcaraz fought against each other 6 times. Their record is 6-0 for Alcaraz. The last time they fought against each other, Carlos Alcaraz won 6-3 7-6(3) 6-4 in the quarter in Paris (French Open) on the 4th of June 2024.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
