Carlos Alcaraz reached his first ever French Open final defeating World No. 2 Jannick Sinner in a five-set classic.
With this win, Alcaraz became the youngest player to reach the Grand Slam final on three different surfaces at the age of 21. This is a feat that even the greats like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic were not able to achieve in their decorated careers.
Alcaraz won the US. Open in 2022 and last year he won Wimbledon on grass. Now he will appear in his first French Open Final on Sunday.
Sinner made a strong start to the match taking an early lead. The Spaniard, however, responded in the second set to level the game at one set each. At the beginning of the third set, the heat took a toll on both players resulting in cramps. Alcaraz had an issue with his right arm and the Italian with his forearm. The Italian eventually won the third set taking a 2-1 lead. The last two sets were relatively straightforward for the Spaniard and he won the match 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. The game lasted for four hours and nine minutes.
“You have to find the joy [while] suffering. That’s the key even more on clay, here at Roland Garros. Long rallies. Four-hour matches. Five sets,” Alcaraz said. “You have to fight. You have to suffer. But as I told my team many, many times, you have to enjoy suffering.”
Alcaraz will now face Alexander Zverev of Germany in the final on Sunday. The German defeated Casper Ruud of Norway in the semi-final 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Ruud also suffered an issue during the game experiencing stomach problems. He was seen taking pills in the third set and that seemed to degrade his performance.
“I saw he started to move a little bit slower,” Zverev said. “That’s usually how it is when you’re not feeling quite well.”
Zverev’s semifinal win will come as a huge relief for the German as he had lost three consecutive semi-finals at the previous three French Open. He has reached a Grand Slam final before at the US Open in 2020 where he blew a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem.
This year’s Men’s French Open final would be the first without Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, or Novak Djokovic since 2004.
Alcaraz will go into the final as the favorite to win but Zverev will smell his first-ever Grand Slam triumph when the pair meet on Sunday.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
