PARIS (AP) — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner has not yet dropped a set in his bid to win the French Open for the first time. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, his opponent in Sunday’s final, has dropped four sets along the way.
Sinner has only been pushed to one tiebreaker — in Friday’s semifinal win against Novak Djokovic — and is on a 20-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments, after winning the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.
“Jannik, he’s the best tennis player right now,” the No. 2-ranked Alcaraz said. “I mean, he’s destroying every opponent through the semifinal.”
But Alcaraz has considerable factors in his favor.
He has a 21-1 record on clay this year, winning titles on the dirt in Rome — beating Sinner in the final after the Italian returned from his doping ban — and Monte Carlo.
Alcaraz also has won the past four matches against Sinner, leads him 7-4 overall, and has won more majors — 4-3 — despite being one year younger at 22. He has also played in a French Open final before, which Sinner has not.
Djokovic, who owns a men’s-record 24 major titles and 100 in total, has faced and beaten the greatest players of his era.
But he felt the relentless aggression of Sinner’s forehand and booming power of his serve during his straight-set defeat on Friday — his fourth straight loss to Sinner.
Djokovic has also lost in two Wimbledon finals to Alcaraz, who displays shot-making wizardry from anywhere on the court, and sometimes hits even harder than Sinner does.
So Djokovic knows just how difficult it is to cope against both players, saying “these kind of guys, like Sinner and Alcaraz, they’re constantly on you and basically increase the pressure as the match progresses.”
Djokovic added: “When the opportunities are presented, they’re very rare, so it makes you a little more anxious.”