A day not to be missed the one experienced this Tuesday at Roland Garros, with the start of the quarter-finals of the men’s draw as a highlight. The best will be left for the end of the day. Because in the last lap of the legendary Philip Chattier -not before 15:45 in Argentina-, Serbian Novak Djokovic and Spaniard Rafael Nadal will clash, in a high-level match that will mark the 59th chapter of the longest rivalry in tennis history. And as a starter, around 10 am, Carlos Alcaraz, the new jewel of the circuit, will face Alexander Zverev, also for a place in the semifinal. Both matches will air on ESPN2 and Star +.

The meeting between freight Y Rafa It will be a true clash of the titans. The Serbian, number one in the world, wants to repeat last year’s exultation in the “great” Frenchman and conquer his 21st title in this category, to equal the record that Nadal has today.

The Spaniard, fifth in the standings, is trying to broaden his legend in a race in which no one has won as much as he. There, he raised the trophy 13 times and amassed a record of 109 wins and only three losses. Two of those crashes were for Djokovic, in the quarterfinals of 2015 and in last year’s semifinals.

The match will be the 59th in history between the two, which the Serbian leads with 30 victories. On the 18th they will play a Grand Slam, a record in this category of tournaments for a rivalry between two players. And the tenth that will play on Parisian brick dust, where he dominates Spain with seven wins, three of which in the final (2012, 2014 and 2020).

The two arrived in Paris at different times. Rafa had to take a break after Indian Wells, to recover from a rib stress fracture, and only played two tournaments before Roland Garros, the Masters 1000 in Madrid, where he lost in the quarterfinals, and Roma, in the fall in the round of 16. of final. And Nole, who had missed the most important appointments of the beginning of the year due to his refusal to vaccinate himself against Covid-19, was able to play the entire brick dust tour, in which he was a finalist at the ATP in Belgrade, semifinalist in Madrid and champion in Rome.

The Majorcan survived a tough test in the round of 16 against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, ninth in the standings and coached by his uncle Tony, who defeated 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3, after four hours and 21 minutes. The Serbian beat Diego Schwartzman, the last Argentine still on track in the tournament, with much more ease, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

Alcaraz, for another historic victory

Carlos Alcaraz, the player of the moment, wants to enter the top four of a Grand Slam for the first time and add a new milestone for him in a season of consecration. Murciano, who despite their youth (19 years) and lack of experience at this level, arrived in Paris as one of the great candidates for the title, will face German Alexander Zverev, number three in the world, in the third round of the main court.

Number six in the world and champion this year at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona and at the Masters 1000 in Miami and Madrid, Alcaraz was close to elimination in the second round, in which he needed five sets and more than four hours and a half to surpass his compatriot Albert Ramos Viñolas. But then he overtook American Sebastian Korda and Russian Karen Khachanov without conceding a goal to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in this game.

Zverev, seeded third and finalist in New York in 2020, already knows what it’s like to make it to the semi-finals at the Grand Slam of France. He reached that stage last year, in his best performance in the competition, and is looking for his first “big” title.

The German, 25, comes from the download of another Spaniard, Bernabé Zapata Miralles131st and revelation of the match, which he beat in the round of 16 for 76 (13-11), 7-5 and 6-3.

It will be the fourth time Charlie Brown Y sasha They will cross. The German won the first two games he played last year, in the first round in Acapulco and in the semifinals in Vienna, both on hard courts. And Murcian prevailed in the third, at the beginning of May, in the Madrid final, on brick dust.