Roland Garros Semifinals: Alcaraz and Sinner Meet in Highly Anticipated Rematch
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will renew their blockbuster rivalry on Friday at Roland Garros, where the pair meet in the semi-finals.
Possessing thunderous groundstrokes and incredible agility, the 22-year-old Italian and 21-year-old Spaniard have frequently clashed on the biggest stages and are poised to do so plenty in the next decade. It is a rivalry which brings the best out of the Top 3 PIF ATP Rankings stars, with the pair locked at 4-4 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Ahead of their eighth encounter, ATPTour.com looks at six of their past blockbusters. BNP Paribas Open 2024, SF, Alcaraz d. Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
Sinner entered his semi-final clash against Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas in March unbeaten on the season. The Italian was a perfect 16-0 on the year, having won his maiden major title at the Australian Open in January.
Sinner had played flawlessly through the first three months of the season and entered the match as slight favourite with Alcaraz stepping onto court 11-3 on the year. The 22-year-old’s favourite tag seemed justified after the opening set, with Sinner cruising into a 6-1 lead. Sinner produced the perfect start, hitting six winners to Alcaraz’s one, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
However, Alcaraz did not surrender. The Spaniard fought through the opening game of set two and earned a crucial hold to stem the tide. He eliminated the early errors that plagued him in the opening set and began to find his footing in long rallies, finding greater variety to level. The 21-year-old continued to mix up his tactics in the final set and lost just three points on serve in a one-sided decider. By moving back to “Medvedev territory” on return, he hurt Sinner with big cuts to begin the point and often began the rallies on the front foot.
After two hours and five minutes, Alcaraz sealed victory on his third match point to end Sinner’s unbeaten start to the season. With his win, Alcaraz advanced to his his sixth ATP Masters 1000 final (4-1), denying Sinner his fourth at the time (1-2). It was Alcaraz’s first tour-level final since he lost to Novak Djokovic in the previous August in a Cincinnati epic; he had been 0-4 in semi-finals since that defeat.
