Carlos
Alcaraz Reaches
Roland Garros Semifinals for the Second Consecutive Year After
Defeating
Stefanos Tsitsipas in Three Sets, 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-4. In the
penultimate challenge before lifting what would be his third Grand Slam title,
he faces
Jannik Sinner, who defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals.
The Italian
will become the new World No. 1 starting next Monday following Novak Djokovic's
withdrawal before his match against Casper Ruud, making him the first Italian
player, male or female, to achieve this in tennis history.
The first
set was one of the best the Spaniard has played in the tournament so far. He
showed great poise with his serve, giving few opportunities to the Greek, and
capitalized at crucial moments. He began the match by breaking serve and
maintained the lead until the end, breaking again at 5-3 to take the opening
set 6-3.
The second
set began similarly to the first. With an early break, Alcaraz took the lead.
However, with a 4-2 advantage, Tsitsipas took advantage of a dip in the World
No. 3's play to recover the lost game. From there, both players held serve
until the tie-break. In the decider, Alcaraz was dominant, winning it 7-3.
The third
set remained even until the seventh game. Both players were infallible with
their serves and managed to handle difficulties when necessary. With the score
at 3-3, and when it seemed Tsitsipas had control, he committed several errors
that cost him the lead and the match.
As expected
from such athletes, Alcaraz did not squander the opportunity and solidified his
advantage until the end, closing the match with his serve and winning in three
sets with a final score of 6-4.