Carlos Alcaraz arrives at Roland Garros overflowing with confidence after eliminating the chief rival Jannik Sinner in Rome, but the reigning champion expects the Italian to be an even more difficult proposal after shaking the rust after his doping ban. Alcaraz and Sinner will be on the opposite sides of the draw while the Spaniard returned to the second in the world this week after his Italian open triumph, potentially preparing the field for another successful final between the two rising superstars of the game. Alcaraz, 22, won 15 of the 16 matches on Clay this season, triumphant to Monte Carlo and reaching the final of Barcelona before In Rome after missing the Madrid Open with a thigh injury.
He also had the number of sinner from the end of Sinner, winning their last four meetings to take an advantage of 7-4 face to face, a record which includes the victory in five sets of Alcaraz in the semi-finals of the Open of France last year. Its success ended the series of 26 successive victories of Sinner on Sunday.
The quadruple champion of the Grand Chelem Alcaraz thinks that the challenge of playing sinner brings him the best.
“He is the best player in the world. It doesn’t matter if he got out of the tour for three months. Each tournament he plays, he plays very well. The figures are there. He wins almost all the matches he plays,” said Alcaraz.
“If I do not play my best, 10 out of 10, it will be impossible to beat him. This is why I am more focused when I play against him, or I feel a little different when I am going to face him than the other players.
“He has this aura. When you see him on the other side of the net, it’s different.
“I’m not going to say that I feel like when Rafa (Nadal) and Roger (Federer) play, but I have the impression that it is a different energy when we face against each other.”
The sinner underwent his first loss of sets online in 18 months in Rome, stressing his domination at that time. However, he was just as impressive in his race for the final of his first tournament since he kept the Australian title Open in January.
– “closer than expected” –
“I am closer than expected in a way of everything,” said Sinner, who served a three -month ban after having tested twice for the traces of prohibited anabolic steroid clostebol.
The sinner has always maintained the product involuntarily entered his system by massage of his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing to treat a cut.
He finally reached a regulation after the authorities accepted that contamination was accidental and that a longer prohibition would be an “severely severe sanction”.
“After three months that came here, which means that this result means a lot for me,” said Sinner after his finish in Rome. “It gives me hope with confidence to play good tennis also in Paris.”
The sinner called Alcaraz “the man to beat”, but Alexander Zverev is also one of the contenders of the title after having failed in last year’s final. Zverev then lost against Sinner in the Australian Open final, but has a clay trophy to his credit this season after winning in Munich.
He decided late to participate in the Hamburg event this week after losing in the quarter -final in Rome, looking for a boost after a “very negative” defeat against Lorenzo Musetti.
“This cannot be the last game before the French Open … I need positivity before it starts,” said Zverev.
– Djokovic passing under the radar –
Novak Djokovic will tackle in Paris with limited expectations for a man with a record of 24 Grand Chelem titles, including three coming to Roland Garros.
The former world number one longtime has slipped to sixth in the ranking, leaving it vulnerable to the possibility of a quarter -final against Alcaraz or Sinner, because its expectations for a 100th tour of tour. His last one came to the Olympic Games, where he beat Alcaraz on the court Philippe Chatrier to win an elusive gold medal.
Djokovic jumped Rome after the first outings at Monte Carlo and Madrid and seeks to rediscover a shape by playing in Geneva.
The Madrid champion, Casper Ruud, is twice a finalist of Roland Garros, while Jack Draper in Great Britain ranks in the fifth best in career after winning at Indian Wells and reached the Madrid final.
Musetti also performed well during the clay swing. The Italian lost the final of Monte Carlo against Alcaraz and also made the last four in Madrid and Rome.
Holger Rune is the only player to beat Alcaraz so far on Clay this season, but he has fought for fitness on each side of his triumph of Barcelona.
MW / JC
(This story has not been published by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a unionized flow.)
Subjects mentioned in this article
Carlos Alcaraz
Cricket
