From our special correspondent,
Often passable, sometimes beautiful and sporadically superb, the Roland-Garros semi-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, won by the Spaniard, leaves behind a bitter aftertaste. That of the unfulfilled promises of this poster expected as the heir to the previous ones in its role as a showcase for tennis.
The Italian and the Spaniard are undoubtedly players of great talent, they will play each other dozens, twenty times if their health allows it, and will have the time to build their own legend. Until then, they will suffer from the comparison with their declining or retired elders (kisses Roger), in each quarter, half or Grand Slam final which pits them against each other. No offense to the vanquished of the day, who refuses it in vain. “We can’t yet compare ourselves with the other players,” says Sinner. Of course, if we look at the results, when we play against each other, they are always important matches. And I think it’s always very, very exciting for the game, especially when we’re very close. »
Finding joy in suffering
Close, yes, breathless, it depends. On Alcaraz’s mutant passing in the middle of the 4th set, the tipping point of the match towards what it should have looked like for four hours to satisfy our tennis gluttony, yes. Of the 102 unforced errors accumulated by the two young men, much less. “You have to find joy in suffering,” Carlitos said to Alex Corretja on Central after his victory. This goes for the spectators, who had to wait three hours before getting carried away. Alcaraz-Sinner is this film that is three times too long to set the context, develop the plot and the characters to end in apotheosis when we no longer believed in it.
What do we owe boredom to? To begin with, the disparate forms of the two protagonists at the start of the match. Sinner too strong in the first, mobile like a Duracell rabbit, Alcaraz on top in the second, cramps on all sides, in short, nerves. The Spaniard started with a clear advantage in this matter since last year’s semi-final, where his body betrayed him on the orders of a brain completely derailed by the challenge. “I learned lessons from last year,” smiles the winner. It wasn’t as bad as last year’s cramps, but I knew how to get through them. I knew I had to shorten the points a little, and move forward, because they were going to pass. »
Sinner not bothered by his hip
The stage fright is a little tougher, it took one or two strokes of madness from Carlitos to send it to pasture and finally give way to the creative genius of which we know the Iberian is capable. Sinner doesn’t give up, but hey, by dint of running behind his rival’s teasing drop-shots, you lose feathers. The hip, too?
“ “No, my hip is fine,” promises the new world number one. You know with matches, the more you advance, the right hip is less strong than the left hip but that’s normal. After two and a half hours, and even up to four hours, I can feel things. But that’s no excuse. I was moving well. I was fine. » »
As in Indian Wells last year, Alcaraz was able to respond to the problems posed by the Italian in the first set (lost 6-1 in 2023, 6-2 this year). On the eve of the semi-final, he was already talking about these situations that he loves so much, where he has to rack his brain, invent and reinvent himself to survive in adversity. “I really like having to look for solutions, find a way to beat him, like I did in Indian Wells. I found a way to get him in trouble. »
OUR ROLAND-GARROS FILE
By entering the court and preventing Sinner from dictating the rally, Carlitos undoubtedly solved his biggest problem of the fortnight. However, he refuses to believe that the last match, Sunday, will be simpler. “I don’t feel like it was an anticipated final against Sinner. Zverev is playing at a high level, he won in Rome and Ruud has two finals here. Sunday is going to be a tough match no matter what. » More spectacular, too?