The French Open’s final four is set, as Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic each prevailed in the event’s quarterfinals on Wednesday in Paris to advance to the semifinals.
They’ll face off in one half of the semifinals Friday, joining Italian Lorenzo Musetti and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who will also do battle in advance of Sunday’s final at Roland Garros.
Sinner, the world’s top-ranked player, closed out Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in straight sets in a little under two hours, making short work of him on the clay court.
In pursuit of his first French Open championship, Sinner won 6-1, 7-5, 6-0, sprinting out to an easy win in the first set at Court Philippe-Chatrier before being pressed in Set 2.
Bublik held advantages of 4-3 and 5-4, before the 23-year-old Sinner reeled off three straight wins for the rally.
From there, it was smooth sailing in the final set.
“We played a couple times already, so you know a little bit what to expect,” Sinner said. “But in another way, with him, you never know what is happening. He deserved to be in the quarterfinals. He beat very tough opponents. I tried to stay focused from my side of the court and play as solid as possible as he can have some ups and downs.”
To wit, Sinner grabbed 31 winners, while Bublik endured a whopping 37 unforced errors in the match.
Having won his last 19 matches at major events, Sinner became the first Italian man to reach six major semifinals.
Despite never advancing beyond the semifinals in this event before, Sinner expressed excitement over the upcoming opportunity.
“I am very happy and happy with how I arrived in the semifinals,” Sinner said. “Semifinals in Grand Slams are very special, so I am looking forward to it.”
Djokovic, 38, took three hours and 20 minutes to defeat Germany’s Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to stay in contention for what would be his first major since 2024 (Australian Open).
It continues a hot run on clay for Djokovic, who won in Geneva and has now won nine matches in a row on the surface.
It wasn’t easy, especially early on as Zverev seized control 2-0 and made that advantage stick for an opening-set victory.
Djokavic corrected that error in Set 2, building a 4-1 advantage. He did the same, going up 2-0 in Set 4.
Set 3 was different, with Zverev going up 1-0 and 2-1, before Djokovic rattled off five straight wins for the set.
“My tactic was just to play drop shots,” Djokovic said. “So, I played three or four in a row … Maybe you can’t see it on TV, but there is a lot of wind from one side, so it gives the sensation that you must hit twice as hard. It was important to vary the game.”
Despite all that, Zverev never conceded, and only lost on winners 42-38. The German also proved himself relatively equal on return points won (35 to 37) and saved four match points, compared to none for Djokavic.
Yet in the final game of the day, the two exchanged 41 shots, with the Serbian finally winning after converting his fifth match point.
“Evidently there was a lot of pressure at the end,” Djokovic said. “Zverev has been one of the best players in the world over the past six years. Matches like this tonight are the reason why I still want to play and compete.”
–Field Level Media
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