Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz to collide in French Open final

Miami Herald

2 days ago

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz will meet in a Grand Slam final for the first time after prevailing in the semifinals of the French Open on Friday at Paris.
After Lorenzo Musetti retired in the fourth set of his match against Alcaraz due to a leg injury, Sinner set the Sunday showdown against the defending champion by defeating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) at Roland Garros.
Sinner is going for his third straight Grand Slam title after winning the 2024 U.S. Open and 2025 Australian Open. Per TNT, the 23-year-old Italian is the youngest player since Pete Sampras in 1993-94 to win 20 straight matches in majors.
Alcaraz is 7-4 against Sinner all-time, including at the final in Rome last month.
"My head-to-heads lately, they don't look great against Carlos, so let's see what I can do," Sinner said with a chuckle. "But again, I'm very happy to be here in the final and then we see what we can do."
Sinner broke Djokovic's serve in the fifth game of Set 1 and twice during the second set. The sixth-seeded Serbian, aiming to extend his record of 24 Grand Slam titles, looked poised to win the third set and held double set point in the 10th game.
But Sinner rallied to the first of three deuces in the game and finally broke through on advantage to tie it 5-5. They ended up in a tiebreaker, where Sinner took a 3-0 lead, absorbed two Djokovic points and then sped away.
"I enjoy these moments. I think these are very rare and special moments in my career, so of course we try to enjoy it," Sinner said in his on-court interview. "... This is a very special place for me."
Djokovic, 38, hinted that Friday's bout may have been his final appearance at the French Open, which he has won three times.
"This could have been the last match ever I play here, so I don't know," Djokovic said. "That's why it was a bit more emotional in the end, but if this was the farewell match of the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd."
Sinner called Djokovic "the best player in (the) history of our sport" during his interview, drawing a round of cheers.
As for Alcaraz, the second-seeded Spaniard was leading 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 2-0 when Musetti was unable to continue the semifinal match. The Italian No. 8 seed received treatment on his left thigh during the third set.
"It's never great getting through or winning a match like this," Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. "Lorenzo is a great player. He has had an incredible clay season. (He is) one of the few players who achieved at least the semifinals at all the biggest events on clay. I think just four players had done that before ... I always wish him all the best, a quick recovery, and hopefully we are going to enjoy his tennis pretty soon."
Alcaraz improved to 6-1 against Musetti, including wins in the Monte-Carlo final and the Rome semifinals this year.
"The first two sets were really tough," Alcaraz said. "I had chances to break his serve in the match. I couldn't make the most of them. He was playing great tennis. When I won the second set, there was a little bit of relief, and then in the third set I knew what I had to do at the beginning: Just push him to the limit and try to be aggressive. Not let him dominate the game more and just be myself."
Alcaraz broke Musetti's serve to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth set. At that point, Musetti slowly walked toward the net and embraced Alcaraz to signify the end of the match.
"I felt at the beginning of the third when I was serving, I start losing a little bit of strength on the left leg behind, and definitely was going worse and worse, so I decided to stop," Musetti said. "I think was the right decision to make, even if it was not what I wanted. Tomorrow I will do exams."
Alcaraz, 22, has a 4-0 record in Grand Slam finals.
--Field Level Media
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