Sinner & Alcaraz to put on a show: 'Everybody wants to watch this match'

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz each entered Roland Garros with big questions around their health. Both players missed Rome due to injury, Sinner with a hip problem and Alcaraz with a forearm issue.

After five matches for each in Paris, any fitness doubts have been emphatically put to rest. The only question now is a tantilising one: Whose best tennis will be better in Friday's Roland Garros semi-final showdown between the young superstars?

Sinner, who will debut as No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings after the tournament, has lost just one set en route to his first Paris semi-final. His ever-rising level on the red clay earned him a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3) win against 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov, underlining his credentials as a title challenger on the surface.

"Everything he does, he does it perfectly," Alcaraz said of his opponent. "The way that he hits the ball is unbelievable. The way he moves, it's really, really [good]. He pushes you to the limit in every ball, in every point. I think it is the hardest thing to face Jannik.

"At the same time, I love that. I love these kind of matches. I love this kind of challenge, to have a really difficult battle against him."

🥇 THIS IS JANNIK'S MOMENT 🥇

Sinner becomes the first-ever Italian man to achieve ATP No.1 Presented by PIF 🇮🇹 👏#S1NNER | #PIF | #ATPRankings | #partner pic.twitter.com/pvAfiACbPO

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 4, 2024

After Alcaraz's 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-4 win against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarters, the Greek said he was overpowered and overwhelmed — a feeling only few opponents can inflict on him. Sinner is another player who often leaves his foes helpless — and that is what makes this matchup so special.

Alcaraz can pull the trigger at any moment with his all-action game, capable of inflicting damage from anywhere on the court. But Sinner's length and impeccable timing provides a perfect foil. While the Italian is often more measured and methodical with his attacks, he also generates easy power that rivals anyone on the ATP Tour. Factor in the ethereal shotmaking that both players possess, and the joy with which they compete, and it's clear why this matchup is a must-see.

Eight matches into what could be one of the defining Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalries in tennis history, the good friends are knotted at 4-4. They split two previous major meetings in 2022, at Wimbledon (Sinner) and the US Open (Alcaraz), and have met just once on clay, when Sinner won a three-set final in Umag that same year. For all the breathtaking rallies we've witnessed recently between the pair on hard courts, the slower surface in Paris will present even more opportunities for highlights.

Alcaraz first rose to World No. 1 after he won the 2022 US Open, while Sinner found out Tuesday that he was guaranteed to top the PIF ATP Rankings after Roland Garros. The Italian acknowledged the gravity of that honour, but his immediate concern is his clay-court form.

"It's a great achievement, but I want to measure myself on this surface, on the clay," he said. "It's a surface where I struggle a lot sometimes and especially the beginning. We have seen this in the last years. I'm even more happy to be in the semis.

"I came here with some doubts, physical doubts, and my body seems stronger and stronger day by day, which for me was the main goal coming here. I'm happy that I have a chance to play here in a very important match for myself in the semis. Then we'll see what I can do."

Later in his press conference, the Italian discussed the differences between clay and his favoured hard courts: "It's a very physical surface, and you play more tennis," he explained. "Sometimes on hard court you hit fast for couple of balls and then [the point] is over, or if you serve good, it's over. On this surface, there are some more key moments [that] you have to understand."

Alcaraz is a more native clay-courter, with seven tour-level titles on the dirt to Sinner's one. He is seeking to continue his incremental progress at Roland Garros after reaching the third round, the quarter-finals and the semis in his three previous appearances. The Spaniard also won his most recent Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Sinner, a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory en route to his second straight Indian Wells title.

Though none of those sets were particularly close on the scoreboard, the games and points were electric throughout. What the match lacked in drama, it more than made up for in entertainment.

While Alcaraz is proud of the way he was able to "find solutions" to battle back on that occasion, he knows Sinner has all the tools to exact revenge on Friday. 

"Probably a little bit more nerves before facing him. I'm not going to lie," Alcaraz admitted. "He probably is one of the most difficult challenges that we can face in tennis right now. I think he's the best player in the world.

"It's going to be an interesting one. The matches that we've played before have been unbelievable games. I think everybody wants to watch this match."

Tennis fans have been anticipating this semi-final showdown since the men's singles draw was revealed. It seems the players, both full of charisma and youthful exuberance, are just as excited as the spectators will be on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

"Hopefully everyone is going to enjoy that match as much as I'm going to," said Alcaraz.