Carlos Alcaraz reaches first grand slam semifinal after marathon, late-night finish against Jannik Sinner
In a long night on grass, the world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz reached his first grand slam semifinal after a marathon battle against Czech Jannik Sinner.
The match began in a late-night deadlock when Alcaraz, looking to end the match early, netted his first serve in the seventh game, to become the first man to win a first six games in a grand slam final.
In the final game of the match, Alcaraz’s backhand sailed close to the ball, with the ball bouncing in the net off the foot of Sinner. That lead to a brief reprieve, with Alcaraz hitting a forehand down the line in the 11th game to force the deciding game.
Later in the match, Alcaraz took out his racket to celebrate his win, before breaking it in half to reveal the number 8, which he wore during his run to the final.
The match took place on a hard court in the French capital, with rain showers and hail showers forecast for late night.
Doha, Qatar – The world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz returned to action in Paris for the first time since June, having been absent from his team’s training camp since the end of the Asian swing.
Alcaraz took the opportunity to go over his game plan for the final four rounds of the tournament, during which he had won two games and lost two, before he found himself down 3-1 against Jannik Sinner of the Czech Republic.
The pair began the match with a blistering start, with Alcaraz taking out the first game, and then Sinner winning the next two games.
The two men traded sets in the opening game, with Alcaraz serving again early in the second set, taking out the second game and allowing Sinner to serve out the set.
During their second game of the set, the Czechian was serving first, but was unable to take a clean return from Alcaraz, and Alcaraz served into the net.
With Sinner serving first in the third game, Alcaraz hit an ace but fell behind 1-