Carlos Alcaraz outlasts Jannik Sinner in a French Open classic

With a 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win in his fourth Grand Slam semifinal in the past year, 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz survived his budding Italian rival Jannik Sinner to advance to the third Grand Slam final of his career. The reigning Wimbledon champion and the U.S. Open champion in 2022, Alcaraz flexed and expanded his dominion Friday — he is the first man to reach a Grand Slam final on all three surfaces before turning 22.

It felt fitting that Alcaraz and Sinner met in the French Open’s first semifinal lineup since 2014 in which all four players are under the age of 30. With 25-year-old Casper Ruud and 27-year-old Alexander Zverev set to meet in the second match of the day Friday, Sunday will also be the first men’s final at Roland Garros without Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer since 2004.

Alcaraz and the 22-year-old Sinner, who with Djokovic’s withdrawal before the quarterfinals will be the new world No. 1 and the first Italian No. 1 on Monday, have been working to make sure the great rivalries that defined tennis’s recent golden age carry on in the new era.

The pair walked onto Court Philippe-Chatrier on Friday with their record against each other knotted at 4-4 and gold buried in those battles. There was the Alcaraz victory in the U.S. Open quarterfinals two years ago that ended at 2:50 a.m. after five sets of fireworks. Another Alcaraz victory, in their three-set semifinal at Indian Wells this year, was a wonder of a comeback after the Spaniard lost the first set, 1-6.

“The way that he hits the ball is unbelievable,” Alcaraz said this week. “The way he moves, it’s really, really well. 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 to find solutions, to find a way to beat him the way that I did in Indian Wells.”

Alcaraz had to find a way in a decisive fifth set Friday, too. At 6-foot-2 and a graceful mover for all his lank, Sinner arrived at the French Open nursing a hip injury that kept him away from tennis for three weeks. He appeared to be wilting after suffering hand cramps and getting multiple visits from the trainer, some of which were for leg massages, earlier in the match.

The Spaniard pounced and ran out to a 3-0 lead in the fifth set in response.

In a pivotal fifth game, Alcaraz took a 4-1 lead after battling back from a 0-30 hole with daring tennis, just skittering the ball over the top of the net to tie the game at 40-40 for the second time and then barely clipping the line with a backhand that looked to be sailing out. He turned to the crowd for a mighty fist pump after that, rallying fans while Sinner stood near the middle of the court with his hands on his hips in indignant disbelief.

Each held serve until Alcaraz stepped to the line at 5-3 as the early evening sun cast half the court in shadow. He flubbed one match point by sending a backhand into the net at 40-30, then earned his second with more daring in the form of a 112-mph second serve but lost the point by sending a forehand long. He won, finally, on the third match point when a lunging Sinner sent a backhand sailing out.

Alcaraz raised both hands, tipped his head back and roared, the Spanish tradition upheld on the red clay at Roland Garros for at least one more match.