the essential
Winner of Jannik Sinner during a confusing half (2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3), the Spaniard will face Alexander Zverev in the final, the German having dismissed the Norwegian Casper Ruud , sick (2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2). The revenge of the 2022 quarter which had escaped the Iberian, who is piling up records without following in the footsteps of his elders…
Tennis is about to emerge from an era marked by three Avengers. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have exploded the counters and created records of all kinds. It was certain, it would be less good tomorrow. It will undoubtedly be different, less animal, less romantic, less conflictual and frontal too, but talent and precocity already have other ambassadors. “I have the impression that the transition with the “Big Three” is already successful,” says Fabrice Santoro, stunned. If Jannick Sinner will become world number 1 this Monday, Carlos Alcaraz is gently erasing several icons of the game from the shelves.
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After supplanting Lleyton Hewitt as the youngest world No. 1 (at 19 years and 4 months), the Spaniard ousted Andre Agassi from the shelves by becoming the youngest player (at 21 years and 1 month) to reach three Major finals on three different surfaces. And as he has already won the US Open on hard (2022) and Wimbledon on grass (2023), a hat-trick of trophies would break another record. Henri Leconte is amazed: “This Roland-Garros can give birth to a guy who will make history”.
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The penalty smash that changed everything
Quarter in 2022 against Alexander Zverev whom he will meet again on Sunday, half last year, final this time, Carlos Alcaraz is in constant progress at Roland-Garros even if his season was fragmented by an arm injury: “As a child, I ran at home after school to watch the matches on TV, especially to see Nadal who was the master of the place in Paris. I wanted to add my name to the long list of Spaniards who have won the tournament. Since then, I have been playing with. me the dream of the one who wanted to be there”. By his style, however, he is the least Iberian of his team in comparison with Sergi Bruguera, Carlos Moya, Carlos Costa, Juan-Carlos Ferrero and of course Rafael Nadal, who were crowned at Roland-Garros.
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Carlos Alcaraz also suffered for a long time during his half this Friday against Jannik Sinner, who led 6-2, 2-0. Through flashes and direct errors (102 in total, 58 for Alcaraz), this classic expected for the next ten years was then balanced before switching to a point, a smash penalty after rebound, in the service square, which ‘would perhaps have concluded a modest player at the end of 3e series. A childish smash that escaped Jannik Sinner, hitting like a deaf in the corridor at 4-5 and 30/15 on his serve in 4e set. Two points later, the round was lost, the thread broken…
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Carlos Alcaraz: “I turned the table”
The Italian dreamed of a first title in Paris and of remaining in contention for the calendar Grand Slam after his triumph at the Australian Open. Failure: “This defeat is part of my learning.” Carlos Alcaraz will have managed his stress cramps better than last year against Novak Djokovic, while the duel will have remained far from the summit of the US Open 2022, won by the Spaniard in 5h15 and dubbed by Mats Wilander, this Wednesday in Paris: “It’s the best tennis match I’ve seen in my life.” The artistic note this time appeared secondary to Carlos Alcaraz: “It was more of a suffering. You have to love suffering when you play tennis. I turned the tables. I had to stay positive, I knew it would be long” . A logical outcome for Sébastien Grosjean: “Overall, I still found Carlos above”.
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Roland-Garros: accused of domestic violence, Alexander Zverev reaches an amicable agreement with his ex-partner before his semi-final
In the final, Carlos Alcaraz will meet Alexander Zverev, who has not made headlines for his sporting exploits in recent days. Accused by his ex-partner of domestic violence in May 2020, the trial of the world number 4 was stopped this Friday, a week after starting at the Berlin-Tiergarten court. “Amicable agreement” announced the court, a polite way of referring to the transaction concluded between the former lovebirds. Faced with Carlos Alcaraz, no compromise will be possible. Alexander Zverev leads (5-4) in the duels and therefore won the 2022 quarter at Roland-Garros. The Spaniard nevertheless leads in the confrontations on clay (2-1). A final of hitters.
