Jannik Sinner stops in the semifinal at Roland Garros. In a hard-fought match, Carlos Alcaraz won in five sets with the result 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Five sets were needed, Carlos wins with phenomenal shots, signature talent. But Jannik Sinner’s defeat does little to detract from his Roland Garros: the Italian – new world number one from Monday – paid in an extraordinary match for his lack of strength in the fifth set due to three weeks’ inactivity, before leaving for Paris. He won’t hide behind excuses, Sinner. It doesn’t fit into his mentality, the mentality of a champion. It was another match to be remembered for years, yet another of the battles between Alcaraz and Sinner that will last at least a decade. A couple of shots from champions between the fourth and fifth sets made the difference in favor of the Spaniard (he now leads 6-4 in the direct comparisons), who after four hours of play with signature peaks made the cut for the final , who will play as the favorite, against Zverev or Ruud.
The Italian number one, however, paid dearly for some gratuitous mistakes (a smash in the decisive game of the fourth set, above all): too much, in a match decided by details. If Alcaraz is a creative person who paints on canvas and occasionally soils it, Sinner needs regularity to express his potential. Even leading by a set, Jannik never gave the feeling of being able to reach the finish line: he was often at the mercy of the solutions of Alcaraz, an anarchic artist who in terms of pure talent is a cut behind only His Majesty Roger Federer. But, as always, Jannik resisted until the end, still showing a steely mental toughness, resisting cramps and hard legs. He arrived in Paris without certainty of having recovered from his hip problems, then he improved in condition, despite having lost a few kilos of muscle due to inactivity for a couple of weeks. An energy gap that caught his eye in the fifth set. So Jannik without excuses leaves France (waiting to return for the Games) with the first position in the world and the incentive to give back the pleasure to the Spaniard already at Wimbledon. The duel is between them, it is a rivalry that is good for tennis. But Jannik knows it well: for there to be a rivalry, he must beat the Spaniard, insinuate doubts into his creative and somewhat dancing mind. Time is on his side.
Of Nicola Sellitti
