Carlos Alcaraz has dubbed Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the French Open ‘frustrating’ following the Spaniard’s quarter-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Alcaraz took the last-eight clash in straight sets, with the reigning Wimbledon champion now among the favourites to win out at Roland Garros.

That’s because three-time French Open champion and world No. 1 Djokovic withdrew from the Grand Slam after picking up a nasty knee injury.

Reacting to the Serb’s premature exit, Alcaraz said: “Well, I was surprised that he withdraw from the tournament after watch the match yesterday.

“He finished the match playing great tennis and he didn’t show pain at the end of the match. It was surprise at all for me. Well, surprise for me that he withdraw from the tournament.

“He talked with his team, with the doctor, and tennis is like that. Sometimes you have to deal with it.

“But I think not having Djokovic in the tournament, I’m going to say frustrating for the fans not having one of the best players in the world in the tournament.”

Admirable words from the 21-year-old, but Alcaraz is unlikely to mourn Djokovic’s exit too much, should it open the door to his first ever French Open title.

Alcaraz has dropped just one set so far at the tournament, with Tuesday’s victory setting up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against Jannik Sinner.

Previewing the contest, Alcaraz said: “Well, you have to run like it is a marathon, you know, side-to-side. I think he has nothing back. Everything he does, he does it perfectly.

“The way that he hit the ball is unbelievable. The way he moves, it’s really, really well. He push you to the limit in every ball, in every point. I think it is the hardest thing to face Jannik.”

He later added: “At the same time I love that. I love these kind of matches. I love this kind of challenge, you know, to have a really difficult battle against him. The previous matches that we’ve played I think it was like that, and I love that.

“I love to find solutions, to find a way to beat him the way that I did in Indian Wells. For example, that 6-1 in the first set, and then I found a way to make him in trouble. I think those situations is great for tennis to try to find the right ways, I would say.”