The match that “everyone wants to watch” is Carlos Alcaraz’s semifinal encounter against Jannik Sinner in the French Open.
With Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal, these two are the highest ranked players still in the men’s singles bracket.
After winning his first major at the Australian Open in January, Italy’s Sinner, who will take the top spot in the world rankings on Monday, has won 12 straight Grand Slam matches this year.
“I adore pairings like these. Spain’s Alcaraz remarked, “I enjoy this kind of competition, to have a really tough battle against him.”
Not later than 13:30 BST, he and Sinner will square off on Court Philippe Chatrier, followed by Alexander Zverev’s matchup with Casper Ruud in the second semifinal.
Sunday will see a new French Open winner taking home the Coupe des Mousquetaires, regardless of Thursday’s outcomes.
To be exact, this will be the first Roland Garros final without one of the “Big Three”—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Novak Djokovic—since 2004.
‘The world’s best player’
Alcaraz, the Wimbledon winner, and Sinner, the Australian Open champion, have demonstrated that they are capable of being the next “Big Three” after winning their respective Grand Slams in the last 12 months.
Despite struggling with injuries in the lead-up to the French Open, both players have dominated the last four matches, dropping just one set apiece.
The third-seeded Alcaraz, who also won the US Open crown in 2022, prevailed in their previous meeting and now has a 4-4 record against Sinner after winning at Indian Wells.
Sinner, on the other hand, has only won one clay-court ATP Tour championship, whereas Alcaraz has won seven; the Spaniard has long been expected to win the French Open.
Alcaraz, 21, argues that confronting Sinner will be the “hardest thing” in spite of this.
Regarding his opponent, who is 22 years old, Alcaraz remarked, “Everything he does, he does it flawlessly.”
“He’s arguably one of the toughest opponents we have in tennis right now. He’s the greatest player in the world, in my opinion.
The almost men’s tennis match
Grand Slam success is long overdue for Zverev and Ruud, who are both still searching for their first title at a major.
All three of Zverev’s semi-final outings in Paris have ended in defeat, and he lost the 2020 US Open final against Dominic Thiem, a famous loss.
In contrast, Ruud has lost in straight sets against Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the last two French Open finals.
The Norwegian seventh seed, though, did defeat Zverev in the previous year’s semifinal, so he ought to be the more experienced player when they face off again.
In the quarterfinals, Ruud easily defeated Djokovic because to the latter’s injury retirement from the event.
The fourth germination In his five matches, Zverev has clocked over 17 hours of tennis play—four more than Ruud.
Zverev declared following his straight-set victory over Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals, “I need to recover. I have played a total of eight and a half hours over the last three days.”
Zverev is playing in the French Open while a trial is ongoing in Berlin relating to domestic abuse allegations against him. Denying the allegations is the 27-year-old.
