Paris: Spain’s two-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz outlasted first-time semifinalist Jannik Sinner of Italy in a five-set thriller to make the men’s singles final at the French Open on Friday, fighting back from two sets to one down to secure a superb victory.
Third seed Alcaraz emerged victorious in four hours and 9 minutes to move into his first Roland-Garros final, coming back from a set and an early break of serve to beat second seed Sinner 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and reach his third major final. Alcaraz, winner of the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon in 2023, struck 65 winners in the match and will play either Alexander Zverev or Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final.
The French Open 2024 is guaranteed a new winner after 2023 winner Novak Djokovic withdrew before his quarterfinal clash a couple of days back. Though Sinner crashed out in the semifinals, he will take over as the new World No.1 after the French Open.
Sinner started on a positive note, winning a surprisingly one-sided first set 6-2 in 40 minutes. The Italian first-time semifinalist was pretty solid on serve and got a massive confidence boost from breaking Alcaraz three times in the first set. The Spaniard struggled to find his rhythm, making 12 unforced errors as he went down in the first set.
Sinner broke early in the second set too, breaking Alcaraz for the fourth time in an hour to take a 2-0 lead as the Spanish player continued to give too many cheap points with misses – the unforced error count climbed to 18 for the match for him.
However, Alcaraz held his serve and broke Sinner to storm back into the second set and take a 3-2 lead. The momentum shifted in his favour in the next 15 minutes as Alcaraz played some thumping groundstrokes. He broke Sinner’s serve for a 4-2 lead, fought his way to another hold of serve, and from 0-2, won the next five games in a row to take a 5-2 lead.
The reigning Wimbledon champion, who led 5-2 at the end of an hour and 29 minutes and went on to win the second set 6-3.
Alcaraz surged to 2-1 lead, but Sinner came back to break serve as the players traded a break each for 2-2. Sinner survived a marathon service game to move ahead 3-2 in the third set. He called the trainer for treatment to his right forearm and hand during the sitdown as he seemed to be struggling physically all of a sudden during that game, shaking his arms between points, as if feeling the onset of cramps in his right hand.
Sinner went on to win the third set despite his physical issues — the trainer was out to massage the Italian’s legs since working on his right arm earlier in the set, toughing out the remainder of the third set to take it 6-3 and go up two sets to one.
Needing to win the next set to make it to his maiden final, Sinner came through another service game to level at 3-3 in the fourth as the players slowed down a bit in this set. The Italian came through
Jannik Sinner comes through another service game to level at 3-3 in the fourth. It’s been a bit of a slow-burner this fourth set so far, the Italian playing the best game of the set, hitting an incredible forehand winner midway through the game to level again for 4-4. However, despite throwing in a double fault early in the ninth game, Alcaraz held under pressure to edge ahead 5-4. He broke Sinner’s service to win the fourth set and level the scores at two sets apiece.
A moment of pure magic helps Alcaraz get an early break in the decider. With Sinner serving at 0-1 deuce the Spaniard produced a perfect angled backhand pass on the slide and he thumped another winner straight afterwards to go up 2-0. Alcaraz then held serve to make it 3-0 in the final set. He maintained his advantage to extend the lead to 4-1, making another break of serve in the fifth game.
(IANS)