Badosa’s tennis conversation with Tsitsipas was “a breath of fresh air.”The 2022 French Open semifinal saw Stefanos Tsitsipas lead Novak Djokovic by two sets before losing.
After a shaky third set, Greek ninth seed Tsitsipas defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 to advance in his quest for a maiden Grand Slam victory.
Despite having a difficult start to the season, Tsitsipas prevailed in the Monte Carlo Masters and advanced to the second clay-court final in Barcelona, where he was defeated by Casper Ruud.
He said that he and his partner, former Spanish world number two Paula Badosa, talk about tennis “all the time” and that they plan to play mixed doubles in Paris.
Tsitsipas, who will next take on Lorenzo Sonego or Zhang Zhizhen, stated, “We both share the same passion, and we do the same thing in life.”
“In my opinion, it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone at your side that you love and who you can converse about tennis with in a comfortable, reciprocal manner.
“That person is pretty knowledgeable about tennis and does a good job of analyzing the game in my instance.”
Playing under cover on Court Suzanne Lenglen, sixth-seeded Russian Rublev defeated Pedro Martinez of Spain 6-3 6-4 6-3, while second-seeded Sinner defeated home favorite Gasquet 6-4 6-2 6-4 on Court Phillipe Chatrier.
Sinner, who will take the top spot in the world if incumbent champion Novak Djokovic is unable to advance past the semifinals, had to fight hard at times against the determined Gasquet, who was strongly encouraged by the partisan spectators in Paris.
Sinner was much more effective on the serve than the inefficient Gasquet, and as his opponent’s seasoned defense gave way, he was eventually able to capitalize on his stronger ground strokes.
Now 37, Gasquet made an effort to make every second matter, but he has never had a great record at Roland Garros (he has only ever been to the quarterfinals) and did not put up enough of a fight to seriously challenge Sinner, a player fifteen years his junior.
