Carlos Alcaraz overthrows Jannik Sinner and will play his first final at Porte d’Auteuil

With his back to the wall from the first minutes, the Spaniard found the resources to defeat Jannik Sinner in the semi-final on Friday (2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3).

A stick of dynamite that almost turned into a damp firecracker. Between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, we expected a spectacular semi-final, Friday June 7, between the two best players of the moment. But the young men, aged 22 and 21 respectively, seemed paralyzed by the stakes for a long time, before the match got carried away from the fourth set.

After a 4h09 fight, it was finally Carlos Alcaraz who was able to exult on the Philippe-Chatrier court. Visibly hampered in his right arm, but more regular in this long fight, Jannik Sinner ended up breaking down in the face of the enthusiasm of the Spaniard, author of the best points of the afternoon, and rewarded after five sets (2 -6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3).

Jannik Sinner had nevertheless started the meeting with his feet on the floor. It was not a little yellow ball, but lightning that burst from his racket to strike down Carlos Alcaraz. After barely seventeen minutes of play, the Italian led 4-0 on a Philippe-Chatrier court who was surprised, just as much as the Spaniard. But like any storm, it eventually calmed down.

At the end of the first set, Carlos Alcaraz was able to regain some color, before making rain or shine in the second set, to return to a set all (2-6, 6-3). We thought the shock was going to get worse, but no. Between the two stars of men’s tennis, the public remained hungry for a long time, with short exchanges, often ending with unforced errors.

In this context, Jannik Sinner had to work hard to win the third round. What the Italian, world number one as of Monday, did, but not without difficulty. The more the minutes passed, the more we felt Carlos Alcaraz gaining power. Game after game, the Spaniard found his cruising speed until we only saw him on the court.

Trailing two sets to one, Carlos Alcaraz went for the fourth (2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4) to offer himself a decisive fifth set. A scenario that we guessed was favorable to the Spaniard, winner so far of 9 of his 10 matches in five sets (compared to 6 victories and 7 defeats for Jannik Sinner).

However, even if he quickly led 3-0 in this decisive set, it still took 49 minutes for Carlos Alcaraz to win (2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6 -3), and thus validate his ticket for his first final at Roland-Garros, his third in a Grand Slam. Knowing that the 21-year-old has won the previous two, whether at the US Open 2022 or at Wimbledon in 2023. His future opponent (Casper Ruud or Alexander Zverev) has been warned.