Carlos Alcaraz says what he found ‘weird’ in the first set during his match against Jannik Sinner

Follow us on Google Discover

After reaching his first French Open semi-final Carlos Alcaraz described what he found weird about his opponent Jannik Sinner.

The Spaniard produced a resilient performance to outlast the Italian and book his spot in Sunday’s championship match.

This encounter was the ninth time that arguably tennis’ top two young players have played one another and it certainly did not disappoint.

However, the first three sets were rather tumultuous for the pair as they battled cramp and struggled to produce their best tennis for long periods.

What did Carlos Alcaraz say about Jannik Sinner?

Alcaraz was overjoyed after defeating Sinner in five sets to compete for a chance to win Roland Garros for the first time.

It took four hours and eight minutes for the 21-year-old to complete a 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 in front of a capacity crowd on court Phillipe Chatrier.

During his post-match interview he described the match, especially in the earlier stages when both players suffered from cramp, which brought back memories from his French Open semi-final a year ago. “I saw him struggling a bit. I was cramping, Jannik as well in the first set. So we had to fight,” the third seed said.

“I learnt from last year’s match against Djokovic, I was in the same position as today, but I know in this moment you have to be calm and keep going, because the cramp is going to go away. You have to stay there fighting, make sure they are short points.

“It was a little weird the first set, but I thought in the fourth and fifth set, it was a great match, great points and great tennis. I am really happy with everything I have done today, waiting for my moments until the last moment where I took it.”

What happened in Carlos Alcaraz’s 2023 French Open semi-final?

2024 was not the first time that Alcaraz played in a French Open semi-final. A year ago he reached the last four of the Grand Slam and faced the 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic. He lost the first set 6-3, but levelled the match after taking the second set 7-5.

The match was hanging in the balance, but Alcaraz began to suffer from cramp which affected him for the rest of the match.

He was unable to produce his best tennis from that point forward, as he won just two more games and succumbed to a 3-6, 7-5, 1-6, 1-6 loss.

The Serbian advanced to the final and defeated Casper Ruud to win the 23rd of his 24 majors, surpassing the tally set by Rafael Nadal.