"The ability of Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner is unreal" - How Serena Williams' ex-coach, Andy Roddick & tennis world reacted to duo's French Open SF
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's thrilling five-set French Open semifinal encounter drew reactions from several former players and tennis analysts. The Spaniard and Italian's contest lasted four hours and 10 minutes, and ultimately finished with a 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win for Alcaraz. The victory marked the World No. 3's progress to his maiden final at Roland Garros.
Sinner started the match on the front foot, with Alcaraz struggling to settle into the game. Unsurprisingly, the newly-crowned World No. 1 ran away with the first set 6-2. However, the Spaniard came roaring back in the second set to clinch it 6-3, as the Italian's game became inexplicably wayward.
More trouble brewed for Sinner as he experienced hand cramps early on in the third set, which forced him to take a medical timeout. Alcaraz though, could not take advantage of his rival's condition, and his errors proved costly as he lost the set 3-6. However, once again, Carlos Alcaraz stormed back, showing remarkable resilience to win the fourth set 6-4 to take the match into the fifth and deciding set.
The Spaniard was even more dominant in the fifth set, as the Italian, despite trying his best, seemed to have finally run out of steam. Carlos Alcaraz took the set 6-3 to book his spot in the final, becoming the second-youngest French Open finalist since 2000. Several prominent former players were hooked to the match, and expressed their opinions as the encounter unfolded on X (formerly Twitter). These included Andy Roddick and Rennae Stubbs.
"These guys are so good. Hard to articulate how hard they hit and how well they move. It’s all absurd," wrote Roddick.
"This match and the ability of this dudes is unreal. Hitting the ball so hard. Average FH 76mph from Carlos and Sinner 81mph. Just awesome," commented former doubles No. 1 and Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs.
"These 2 young men are not only great players, they respect each other, the fans, and the game. And they enjoy playing tennis," wrote John McEnroe's brother Patrick.
"Alcaraz prevails in 5 sets over Sinner… great effort by Sinner on clay, showing more variety with the drop shot, but tbh not impressive by Alcaraz… won by his standards with half a forehand… will need to tidy it up pronto," Paul McNamee, former Australian doubles No. 1, wrote.
Noted tennis journalists and analysts reacted to the match as well.
"By far the nerviest match Alcaraz and Sinner have played against each other, which does makes sense all things considered," wrote tennis analyst Gill Gross.
"Sinner/Alcaraz...was 4-4 h/h coming in. Today...we're in the fifth set: same number of breaks (6), same return percentage, same number of games won... Rivalry, folks #rolandgarros," opined journalist Jon Wertheim.
"I hope to play many more matches like this one against Jannik Sinner" - Carlos Alcaraz
At a post-match press conference, Carlos Alcaraz confessed that his 2024 French Open semifinal clash against Sinner was among the toughest matches of his career so far. However, he expressed his hope of playing such matches against his Italian rival many more times going forward.
"The great player that Jannik is, the team that he has as well. The great war he fought every day. I hope to play many more matches like this one against Jannik, but yes, this has been one of the toughest matches that I played for sure," Carlos Alcaraz said.
The World No. 3 will meet World No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the men's singles final on Sunday, June 9. Zverev defeated two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal to reach his second Grand Slam final.
The German has a 5-4 advantage against Alcaraz in their ATP Tour head-to-head. However, the Spaniard won their previous encounter 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of this season's BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.