The top two seeds will face off in the French Open final for the first time in five years.
On Sunday, the world number one and two will battle it out on Court Philippe Chatrier for French Open glory.
In the semi-finals, Carlos Alcaraz took down Lorenzo Musetti, and Jannik Sinner defeated Novak Djokovic to set up the dream final many had hoped for.
Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images
The pair contested a final on clay just 20 days ago, when Alcaraz beat Sinner to win his maiden Italian Open title.
With fans and pundits predicting whether the Spaniard can repeat the feat on Sunday, one American ATP Tour legend has his say.
Andre Agassi gives the ‘slight edge’ to Carlos Alcaraz in French Open final against Jannik Sinner
Speaking to TNT Sports after Sinner’s semi-final win over Djokovic, eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi looked ahead to Sunday’s championship match.
“I have to say, I’m still going to give a slight edge to [Carlos] Alcaraz,” said Agassi.
“The reason why I do is he can come to the table with a variety of paces, a variety of trajectories, and create the angst that needs to be created in order for [Jannik] Sinner to slightly get off that intense ball striking off both wings.”
Agassi believes Alcaraz will provide more of a challenge to the world number one than Djokovic did in the semi-finals.
“I mean, when you hit a ball like Novak [Djokovic], as good as it is, that ball can sort of be measured,” he said.
“You can’t quite measure Alcaraz’s ball. One is going to be a heavy slice. One is going to be a drop. One is going to be way above your shoulder. Sinner has to be on top of his game, moving north and south to get that ball where he wants it to go in order to do what he’s done to get this far without losing a set.
Jannik Sinner’s route to the French Open final
“Now you start bringing movement into the equation. I mean, let’s face it, Novak’s been one of the great defenders and the great movers in the history of our sport, but I don’t think anybody has really moved and shown the explosiveness and the ability to get to balls, make you play the extra one and or hurt you when you least expect it.
“So when you start throwing in those disturbances, they can take a ball striker and make them think twice.
“I’m going to lean a little bit on the Alcaraz side just because what they’re standing on requires a lot of nuance.”
There’s certainly reason to believe Alcaraz can get the job done on Sunday, having enjoyed his fair share of success against the world number one recently.
Can Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner for the fifth time in a row to win Roland Garros?
Since the beginning of the 2024 season, Sinner holds a mightily impressive 90-7 record on the ATP Tour.
As impressive as those numbers are, taking a closer look highlights just how much of a thorn Alcaraz has been in Sinner’s side over the past 12-18 months.
- Jannik Sinner’s record v Carlos Alcaraz since the start of 2024 : 0-4
- Jannik Sinner’s record v Everyone else since the start of 2024: 90-3
Sinner has lost more matches to Alcaraz since the beginning of 2024 than he has against every other player in the men’s game combined.
Worryingly for the Italian, two of those four defeats have come on the clay, one of which on the exact court where they’ll contest Sunday’s final.
Jannik Sinner’s struggles against Carlos Alcaraz
Sinner came painfully close to reaching his first Roland Garros final 12 months ago, when he lost out in five thrilling sets to his Spanish rival.
Leading by two sets to love, Sinner couldn’t finish the job, as Alcaraz fought back to qualify for the final, where he clinched his maiden Roland Garros title.
Perhaps Sinner will have learned his lesson from that defeat and the one in Rome in preparation for Sunday’s title showdown.
Only time will tell who will emerge victorious when Sinner and Alcaraz contest the French Open final on Sunday, June 8.