Carlos Alcaraz, in the evening of Roland Garros against Korda: official schedule of matches on Friday

The candidates for the title of Roland Garros They have extra help. They get it with their record and charisma, it’s a blessing to know that the contention of their matches is guaranteed because they are scheduled in one of the two stadiums of the Parisian complex with a retractable roof. The rest have been fighting the rain, which has caused a thousand and one stoppages and delays so far in the Grand Slam.

While Carlos Alcaraz He trained comfortably on Thursday with his team at Jean Bouin, the club two blocks from Roland Garros where there are more courts, his opponent in the round of 32 having to secure his place later than advisable.

The Spaniard, under the cover of the center, solved his classification against the Dutch Jesper de Jong on Wednesday. The American Sebastian Korda He went to the hotel at 5-4 and served for a set against South Korean Soonwoo. He returned on Thursday at eleven o’clock in the morning, only to suffer another suspension of about an hour. And he was still grateful to close his victory before two o’clock in the afternoon, without too much damage. That resolution also helped Alcaraz, he might not have an opponent and suddenly his schedule was delayed which did not suit him.

Especially since there is nothing worse than coming back from an injury and having to deal with humidity, cold and rain. “My arm feels good, but these conditions are not helping. You’re a bit scared how your arm will react because in the humidity the ball is so big, it’s hard to move it, it’s hard to hit winners,” he explained. Alcarazwhich doesn’t add more wear and tear than necessary in the days between games.

“The less you are on the court, the better, to be better and recover,” he pointed out, although he also lacked speed having only played one tournament, Madrid, on the clay court tour.

Also rope, 23 years old and number 28, he complained that the ball “almost flies. I prefer the heat, it’s also difficult to remove.”

Alcaraz and Korda met again at Roland Garros, where the Spaniard won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round of 2022. “In a night game,” recalled the North American from a family of sports talents ( tennis and golf) with Czech roots. They will repeat in a night session, not before 8:15 pm. The weather will tell you whether it’s inside or outside.

The overall balance is 3-1 for the El Palmar tennis player. The most recent precedent came from Queen’s grass, last year, with a 6-3 and 6-4 result. Korda’s 7-6 (2), 6-7 (5) and 6-3 are far from Monte Carlo 2022, against a fatigue. Alcarazwho just won the Miami Masters.

The student of Juan Carlos Ferrero Never stopped climbing the ranks, ‘Sebi”s progress slowed down after the quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open due to a delicate wrist injury, which conditioned his career for almost seven months.

Philippe Chatrier Track

12:00 hours

Coco Gauff (USA/3)-Dayana Yastremska (Ucr/30)
​Pavel Kotov (Rus)-Jannik Sinner (USA/2)
​Iga Swiatek (Pol/1)-Marie Bouzkova (Che)
The(not before 8:15 pm)
​Sebastian Korda (USA/27)-Carlos Alcaraz (Esp/3)

2

Follow Suzanne Lenglen

11:00 a.m

Liudmila Samsonova (Rus/17)-Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Ita)
Andrey Rublev (Rus/6)-Matteo Arnaldi (Ita)
Leylah Fernandez (Can/31)-Ons Jabeur (Tun/8)
​Zhizhen Zhang (Chn)-Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre/9)

3

Simonne-Mathieu track

11:00 a.m

Olga Danilovic (Srb)-Donna Vekic (Cro)
Chloé Paquet (Fra)-Marketa Vondrousova (Che/5)
​Hubert Hurkacz (Pol/8)-Denis Shapovalov (Can)
​Corentin Moutet (Fra) or Alexander Shevchenko (Kaz)-Sebastian Ofner (Aut)