Alcaraz won the giant duel

It was a duel between two up-and-coming tennis giants and, for many experts, already the early final of the French Open in Paris. The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz emerged victorious yesterday in the semifinals of Roland Garros against Jannik Sinner, who will nevertheless replace Novak Djokovic as number one in the world rankings on Monday, with 2:6, 6:3, 3:6, 6:4, 6:3.

In the direct duels, the score was 4:4, with the most legendary match between the two to date taking place in the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2022. After 5:15 hours and a missed match point by Sinner, Alcaraz prevailed in the end. And yesterday, too, neither of them gave each other anything. “You have to stay calm in the decisive moments and keep fighting. I managed that,” said Alcaraz with relief. He made up a set deficit both times, and in the final round he was the more consistent player that day.

In the final, he will face Alexander Zverev. The fourth-seeded German beat Casper Ruud (Nor/7) 2:6, 6:2, 6:4, 6:2. This is his second Grand Slam final. He lost the first to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.

Swiatek the big favorite

Everything seems to be set up in Paris for the world’s best tennis player: Iga Swiatek is in today’s women’s final for the third time in a row (3 p.m./live Eurosport, Servus TV) and is also the clear favorite against Jasmine Paolini. Swiatek, who is only 23 years old, could not only win her third Roland Garros title in a row, but also her fifth major title overall. Paolini, on the other hand, is in her first major final at the age of 28.

The Italian had never made it past the second round until this year’s edition in the west of Paris, and a year ago she only played in one WTA Challenger in Croatia. It was only in February that she won her biggest title to date at the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai. Paolini can be happy even if she loses, as she has made it into the top ten for the first time. She will be ranked seventh in the rankings from Monday.

Out in singles, through in doubles

In his last year as a junior, Joel Schwärzler missed his big goal at the French Open. The 18-year-old from Vorarlberg, who is currently considered the hottest red-white-red tennis stock, had to bow to the American Kaylan Bigun in the semifinals of the Junior Grand Slam tournament. Schwärzler lost 6:2, 3:6, 4:6.

The only consolation he had was the news that he had received a wildcard for the main event at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel at the end of July. And in the doubles event with his Norwegian partner Nicolai Kjaer, he managed to reach the final with a 4:6, 6:2, 11:9 win over Omarkhanov/Derepasko (Kaz/Rus).