Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a poor start to beat an inconsistent Jannik Sinner 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 to reach his maiden French Open final after a see-saw encounter on Friday.
The third seed was a shadow of his brilliant self in the opening set before making the most of his Italian opponent’s premature cramps to level ahead of the match going into a decider.
Australian Open champion Sinner, who will take over from Novak Djokovic as world No 1 next week, bowed out when he returned a massive forehand down the line wide on the third match point on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
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“You have to find the joy in suffering, I think that’s the key, even more here on clay, here at Roland Garros, long rallies, four-hour matches, five sets, you have to fight, you have to suffer,” said Alcaraz.
“Probably, the toughest matches that I’ve played in my short career have been against Jannik, the US Open 2022, this one, it shows the great player Jannik is and I hope to play many, many more matches like this one against Jannik, but yes, it’s one of the toughest matches that I’ve played, for sure.”
Two-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, who is hoping to add to his Wimbledon and US Open titles, will face German Alexander Zverev or two-time runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway on Sunday.
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