The French Open final between Jannik Sinner and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was a fiercely competed match, with Alcaraz ultimately winning his first Grand Slam of the year, after failing in the Australian Open quarter-final against Novak Djokovic. It is his second French Open win and fifth Grand Slam overall in his career. The former has won the game three sets to two in the final.
Alcaraz, has become only the third man to retain his Roland Garros title this century after Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten, has won the last four encounters with Sinner.
“Grand Slam finals against Carlos, it’s a special moment for me and for him, too. He won here last year, so let’s see what’s coming,” Sinner said ahead of the game.
“But for sure, the tension you feel before the match and during the match is a little bit different because we are both very young, we are both different, but talented. So let’s see.”
Alcaraz’s progression to the final has not been equally smooth, with the Spaniard dropping a set in four of his six matches, including in his semi-final against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who retired injured at the start of the fourth set.
But his occasional lapses of concentration during his matches in Paris barely mask his lethal force on the surface.
He won the claycourt tournaments in Monte Carlo and Rome while also reaching the final in Barcelona in a near-perfect preparation to Paris.
“If I want to play against Jannik, he’s the best tennis player right now. I mean, he’s destroying every opponent through (to) the semi-final,” Alcaraz said.
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Sinner has beaten Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the competition. Calling Djokovic the greatest player of all time, Sinner said: “It was such a special occasion for me playing Novak in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam and I had to step up and play the best tennis I could.
“He’s such a role model for us young players. I tried not to think about this, but before going on court you feel the tension and what’s coming against you.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
