Sinner beats Djokovic to set up final against Alcaraz

PARIS, France:

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) yesterday to set up a French Open final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic is the men’s record 24-time Grand Slam champion but could not counter Sinner’s relentless accuracy and pounding forehands on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Sinner became only the second Italian man to reach the final at Roland-Garros after Adriano Panatta, the 1976 champion.

Earlier, Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 2-0 against Lorenzo Musetti when the eighth-seeded Italian retired with a leg injury.

Sinner is aiming for his fourth major title, Alcaraz his fifth.

Djokovic fought back in the third set but wilted in the tiebreaker, somehow missing an easy smash at the net to trail 3-0 and then lost on the second match point he faced when his forehand hit the net.

“These are rare and special moments,” Sinner said. “I’m very happy.”

He extended his winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments to 20 matches, after winning the US, Open and the Australian Open.

Djokovic was bidding for a record-extending 38th Grand Slam final, and eighth in Paris, where he was won three times. But he spent much of the semi-final camped behind the baseline, sliding at full stretch and grunting loudly while Sinner sent him scurrying left and right like a windscreen wiper.

AP