Salvatore Caruso continued his dream run at Roland Garros on Thursday by upsetting hometown favorite and No. 26 seed Gilles Simon, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, on Court 14.
Now the world No. 147 will get the big-stadium treatment on Saturday, when he squares off against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the third round.
On one side of the net will be a 15-time Grand Slam champion competing in the third round of a major for the 52nd time in his career. On the other side will be a man who won his first Slam main-draw match just two days ago and who has earned less in his eight-year tennis career than what Djokovic made in Rome last week.
Here’s more on Caruso, who is looking to pull off the ultimate upset in Paris.
The Salvatore Caruso File
Age: 26
Birthplace: Avola, Italy
Current Ranking: 147
Career-High Ranking: 147 (May 2019)
Best US Open Finish: First-round qualifying (2017, 2018)
The Baseline
- Caruso is into the third round of a Grand Slam main draw for the first time in his career. His previous experiences at majors consisted of one first-round main-draw loss in Australia, seven first-round losses in qualifying and a pair of second-round qualifying defeats. He made his main-draw debut at the 2018 Australian Open, where he fell to Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
- The Italian defeated world No. 53 Jaume Munar of Spain, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of the French Open on Day 2 before dispatching Simon in straight sets on Day 5.
- Caruso earned his spot in the main draw by winning three qualifying matches last week. He was twice down a set in the best-of-three format, including in the final qualifying round, when he rallied to beat Dustin Brown.
- The 26-year-old warmed up for the French Open by playing an ATP Challenger-level event in Rome the week before qualifying. He reached the quarterfinals at the tournament, which earned him 15 points and €1,260 (roughly $1,400). His second-round win in Paris guarantees him 90 points and €143,000 ($161,000), which is almost half of what he has earned since turning pro in 2011.
- Last October, Caruso earned his first ATP Tour-level win, when he beat Yuki Bhambri as a lucky loser in Antwerp, Belgium. Earlier in the year, he won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Como, Italy, defeating Cristian Garin in the championship match.
