Tonight’s clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner was the ninth clash between the two young tennis stars since they both went pro. Both players have defeated each other four times before the French Open semifinal.
With Jannik Sinner’s world No. 1 ranking sealed after Djokovic withdrew with a knee injury, the Italian was vying for his second Grand Slam title of the year and his career. Carlos Alcaraz was also fighting for his third Grand Slam title after winning the US Open and Wimbledon titles in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Jannik Sinner Secures A Quick 1st Set Lead
With the winner of this clash set to feature in his first ever French Open final, Carlos Alcaraz came out the more vulnerable of the two, with powerful crosscourt forehands and backhands from Jannik Sinner enough the break of his serve in the first game of the first set. Alcaraz’s forehand betrays him again in the third game to gift Sinner the double break.
After wrestling a game to finally get himself on the board at 1-4, Carlos Alcaraz pulled a break back on Sinner’s serve with some well taken forehands. At 40-15 on the next game, Alcaraz buckled and his double fault mixed with excellent Sinner volleys granted the new world No. 1 a third break of the set. Sinner served out the set in the next game to lead 1-0.
Carlos Alcaraz Rallies Back To Draw Level
The second set of this French Open semifinal started with a double fault and a few misfiring forehands from Carlos Alcaraz to gift Jannik Sinner a quick break of his serve in the first game. Despite two double faults in the next game, Sinner found a way to dig himself out and consolidate his second-set lead.
In the fourth game of the set, Alcaraz capitalized on another Sinner double fault and his dominance at the net to steal a break back and level the set at 2-2. Two games later Carlos Alcaraz won his fourth consecutive game, breaking the Italian’s serve for the second time to lead the set 4-2. They both stayed on serve with Alcaraz serving out the set to equalize 1-1.
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Both Stars Exchange The Third And Fourth Sets
In the third game of the third set, Carlos Alcaraz capitalized on yet another double fault from Sinner and a series of tame shots to secure a break. One game after, it’s the turn of Alcaraz’s play to dip, with two shots into the net and one double fault assisting Sinner to break back.
Sinner secured another break of Carlos Alcaraz’s serve in the sixth game of the third set and stayed on serve to serve out the set. At this point, Jannik Sinner was leading 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Both players stayed on serve in the fourth set till the ninth game. To save a breakpoint, Sinner hit a big forehand that opened up the court. Alcaraz then courted it with a crosscourt winner to break the Italian and steal the fourth set.
Alcaraz Holds On To Early Break To Win
After Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a losing position to force a fifth set, the fifth and deciding set was a firecracker from the start. After securing his serve, Alcaraz went on to break Sinner’s serve in the second game. Alcaraz then went on to show why he was a two-time Grand Slam champion with heavy forehands in an exhilarating rally and control of the net to consolidate the lead.
The set remained hot and steamy, with both players staying on serve till at 5-3, Alcaraz was poised to serve for the match. Sinner stole a 0-30 lead before Alcaraz pulled an ace and two winners out of his hat to bring up match point.
Sinner replied with a winner of his own to secure the deuce. After a wide serve and volley, Alcaraz forced Sinner into a shot that went long in the following rally to win the match. This is Alcaraz’s fifth win in the pair’s ninth clash.
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Ebenezer has been an avid writer for over a decade and a half. Within that period, he has garnered experience in various fields such as editing, graphics design, transcribing, sales, data analysis, and football management. He’s also the author of the mystery thriller novel “The Eye of Ra.” For more articles by Ebenezer Ugorji, click here and here!
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