World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and World No. 2 Carlos Alakraj will meet in Paris for the first time in a Grand Slam final for the first time after it became prevalent in the semi -finals of the French Open.
After Lorenzo Mussetti retired in the fourth set of his match against Alkaraz due to a leg injury, Sinner performed Sunday against Defending Champion by defeating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) in Rolland Garos.
After winning the 2024 US Open and 2025 Australian Open, Sinner is going for its third straight Grand Slam title. According to TNT, 23-year-old Italian is the youngest player since Pete Sempras in 1993-94, with 20 to win 20 direct matches in big companies.
Alakraj is 7-4 against the Sinner all-time in the final in Rome last month.
“My head-to-head recently, they do not look great against Carlos, so let’s see what I can do,” the sinner said with a chakali. “But then, I am very happy to come to the final here and then we see what we can do.”
Sinner broke the service of Djokovic in the fifth game of set 1 and twice during the second set. Sixth seeded Serbian, aiming to expand their records of 24 Grand Slam titles, appeared ready to win the third set and held a double set point in the 10th game.
“They ended in a tiebreaker, where the sinner took a 3–0 lead, absorbed two Djokovic points and then ran away.
“I enjoy these moments. I think these are very rare and special moments in my career, so of course we try to enjoy it,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “… This is a very special place for me.”
Djokovic, 38, indicated that he could have a final presence at Friday’s bout French Open, which he has won three times.
“This can be the last match I play here, so I don’t know,” Djokovic said. “That’s why it was a bit more emotional at the end, but if it was a farewell match of Rolland Garos for me in my career, it was a wonderful in terms of atmosphere and what I got from the crowd.”
During his interview, Sinner called Djokovic “the best player of our game (History of our game”, which draws a round of cheers.
For Alakraj, the second seed Spanieng was proceeding from 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6–0, 2–0, when Mussetti was unable to continue the semi-final match. Italian number 8 seed received treatment on his left thigh during the third set.
Alkaraz said in his on-court interview, “It is never very good to win through or win this way.” “Lorenzo is a great player. He has an incredible earthen season. (He) is one of the few players who have achieved the least semi -finals in all the biggest events on the clay. I think only four players had done so before … I always wish them all the best, and hope that we are going to enjoy tennis soon.”
Alkaraz improved 6–1 against Mussetti, which included the Monte-Karlo final and Rome semi-finals this year.
“The first two sets were really difficult,” Alakraj said. “I was likely to break his service in the match. I could not make most of them. He was playing a lot of tennis. When I won the second set, there was a little relief, and then in the third set I knew what I had to do in the beginning: just push it to the limit and try to be aggressive. Let it be more in the game and just let him dominate the game.”
Alakraj broke Musti’s service to take a 2–0 lead in the fourth set. At that time, Mussetti slowly went towards the net and embraced Alakraj to indicate the end of the match.
“I felt at the beginning of the third when I was serving, I start losing a little strength behind the left leg, and certainly getting worse and worse, so I decided to stop,” Musti said. “I think it was the right decision to make, even if it was not what I wanted. Tomorrow I will take the exam.”
22-year-old Alakraj holds a 4–0 record in the Grand Slam final.
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