PARIS. – Carlos Alcaraz halted a mid-match fightback by ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to secure a 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-4 win on Tuesday and set up a blockbuster French Open semifinal with incoming world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
The third seed, who came into the contest with a 5-0 record over Tsitsipas, caused all kinds of problems for his Greek opponent with high kick serves to the backhand and won the first set in 33 minutes.
The rematch of last year’s quarterfinal looked set for the same result on Court Philippe Chatrier as Alcaraz broke and then held to go up 3-0 as Tsitsipas did not help his cause with an error-prone display early in the second set.
Tsitsipas worked the crowd after hitting a stinging forehand when down 4-2 and looked rejuvenated as he finally solved the puzzle with a break back before drawing level, but Alcaraz raised his game in the tiebreak to double his advantage.
A frustrated Tsitsipas repeatedly complained about Alcaraz’s delayed grunts and nearly struck him with an overhead smash in a feisty third set, but his Spanish opponent ran away with the match to reach his Roland Garros second semifinal.
Sinner stepped up his bid for a second Grand Slam title by securing a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
Although he didn’t know it at the time, the second seed will take top spot in the rankings on Monday regardless of who wins the French Open after defending champion Novak Djokovic pulled out with a knee injury before his quarter-final match.
In women’s play, defending champion Iga Swiatek declared that she was in the zone as her quest for a fourth French Open title hit top gear after a 6-0, 6-2 victory over former runner-up Marketa Vondrousova sent her through to the semifinals.
The 23-year-old’s 62-minute workout set up a seismic last-four encounter with American Coco Gauff in a repeat of the 2022 final won by the Pole who will look to improve her 10-1 overall record against the third seed.
“Today it was pretty straightforward. I’m happy that I kept my focus. Sometimes I felt the game was pretty intense,” Swiatek said after making the Roland Garros semi-finals for the fourth time in five years.
“Sometimes the intensity went down a bit. I wanted to just play my game no matter what was coming back from Marketa. I felt like I was in the zone today.”
Swiatek wasted little time to start firing in the clash of reigning Grand Slam champions on Court Philippe Chatrier as she built a 5-0 lead over Wimbledon winner Vondrousova and wrapped up the opening set when the fifth seed hit a shot long.
It was the top seed’s third bagel in a row following her demolition of Russian Anastasia Potapova and she achieved it by dictating points from all parts of the court to completely overwhelm 2019 finalist Vondrousova.
The Czech cut a frustrated figure but finally got on board in the second set following a rare Swiatek mistake and earned a break point in the next game but could not stop her ruthless rival from extending her winning run on clay to 17 matches.
Djokovic’s withdrawal will mean that 22-year-old Sinner will become the first Italian player to take the No. 1 spot since the ATP rankings were first published 51 years ago.
“What can I say? First of all, it’s every player’s dream to be No. 1. On the other hand, seeing Novak retiring here is, for everyone, disappointing. I wish him a quick recovery,” Sinner said amid applause from the crowd.
“I try not to think much about this. This is a tournament I used to struggle a lot, especially the last two years. I’m happy to be in the semifinals.
“It’s a special moment for me. I’m very happy to share this with you guys (the fans) and everyone at home watching from Italy.”
American third seed Coco Gauff fought back to beat fan favorite Ons Jabeur 4-6, 6-2 6-3 and become the first player to reach the French Open semifinals.
Jabeur was roared on by a Tunisian contingent on Court Philippe-Chatrier as Gauff dropped the opening set, but the American grew in confidence in the second and stamped her authority in the third to reach the semis for the second time.
