Carlos Alcaraz struggled quite a bit against Jannik Sinner in the 2024 Roland Garros semi-final, but he engineered a marvelous comeback in five sets.
Sinner was a slight underdog in this match, but he didn't look like the underdog at the start of the match. He completely outplayed the Spaniard in the first few games. He took a 4-0 lead, which was too hard to overturn, even though he did find a solid rhythm after that.
After the first set, it was 6-2, and when the Italian broke early in the second set, things looked very complicated. Then came Alcaraz's comeback, which turned around the match in a pretty spectacular fashion.
Sinner didn't play well in the second set, as he didn't serve well and missed a lot of balls. The two-time major winner, however, looked more and more confident, taking it 6-3.
Sinner struggled in the next set as well, looking quite flat early on, which was very unusual for him. Meanwhile, Alcaraz was flying around the court and dominating.
He took a 2-1 lead but then got broken, as his opponent made it 2-2. He missed out on the chance to go up again, after which Sinner suddenly rose in energy and snatched away the set. The Italian didn't look flat suddenly and was easily blasting signature winners, winning the third set 6-3.
Alcaraz was visibly frustrated by how that set transpired because he looked completely in control before his opponent's comeback. The fourth set was well contested from both sides, as the Spaniard looked solid on his serve but failed to create any kind of pressure on his opponent's serve.
He attacked, though, which was a concentrated effort to avoid a repeat of that third set when he allowed his opponent, who will be the world no. 1 on Monday, to dictate play in the rallies.
For the most part, it worked out well, though he was very lucky because Sinner helped him a lot with a really big miss on a crucial point in the fourth set, so the third seed was able to win that set 6-4, and the match went into a decider.
The final set started well for Alcaraz, who was just taking over. He was everywhere and hit some incredible shots to go up 3-0. That would prove enough as he cruised to the finish line after that, reminding everybody why he already has two Grand Slams in his name. The final score was 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, as Alcaraz will now await the winner of the match between Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev in the final.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner Match Stats:
| Carlos Alcaraz | 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 | Jannik Sinner |
| 8 | Aces | 7 |
| 7 | Double Faults | 8 |
| 66% | First Serve % | 56% |
| 66% (68/103) | Points Won After First Serve % | 74% (56/76) |
| 46% (25/54) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 46% (27/59) |
| 43% (6/14) | Break Point Conversion | 60% (6/10) |
| 65 | Winners | 39 |
| 58 | Unforced Errors | 44 |
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