There will be a new French Open winner after Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the tournament at the quarter finals stage. New No.1 Jannik Sinner will look to make it two slams from two but has two more matches to go. The first of those will be against Carlos Alcaraz in what promises to be a classic.
Alcaraz continued his dominance over Stefanos Tsitsipas, extending the head-to-head to 6-0. Targeting the backhand worked as usual in the 6-3 7-6 6-4 win, with Tsitsipas rarely troubling the Spaniard either side of his late second set charge. “I think it was a really good match. I played great. I think there weren’t up and downs in my game. I controlled very well my emotions, myself on the court.” he said.
Sinner was also a winner in straight sets, easing past Grigor Dimitrov to make it 12 slam matches won in a row. The hip issue that caused his Rome withdrawal looks to be well behind him with Sinner looking strong all tournament. “I was very solid in the first two sets. I had a little issue when serving for the match, but this is tennis, this is normal, and I’m very happy I reacted later and very happy to be in the semis.” the Italian said after the 6-2 6-4 7-6 win.
This is a matchup that has been very competitive so far, with the head-to-head standing at 4-4. Making assessment’s on Sinner’s clay ability does feel futile given his massive improvement over the past 12 months. However, Alcaraz is definitely the more comfortable on clay and adapting his play for the surface. While still capable of doing so, Sinner’s ability to blast Alcaraz off the court is greatly reduced by the conditions which will help the best mover on clay. The variety he will be able to employ should eventually frustrate Sinner enough but this may well go all the way.
Prediction – Carlos Alcaraz in five sets
