Around the grounds at the Porte D'Auteuil venue on men’s semifinals day
©Julien Crosnier / FFTJannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both won in Paris on Friday to set up a dream final on Sunday between the top two players in the world.
Alcaraz was the first to go through when his opponent Lorenzo Musetti retired early in the fourth set with a leg injury, a result that sends the defending champion into his second successive Roland-Garros final.
Musetti began the match strongly by taking the first set 6-4, only to watch the second slip away 7-3 in a tiebreak. From the start of that shootout the Italian only won another 10 points in total as his physical condition worsened before he was forced to stop with the scoreboard showing Alcaraz ahead 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-0, 2-0.
Later under the lights Sinner held off everything Novak Djokovic could possibly throw at him, saving three sets points at 4-5 in the third, before wrapping up victory 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3) in a brutal contest that lasted over three hours. It is Sinner’s 20th successive Grand Slam win.
It’s a fifth major final for Alcaraz, and a fourth for Sinner as well as a first in Paris for the reigning US Open and Australian Open champion. Neither has lost a Grand Slam final, and their 12th career meeting on Sunday will be the first for a major trophy. Something’s got to give.
With No.1 and 2 in the WTA rankings - Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff - meeting in Saturday’s women's showpiece, it’s the first time since 1984 in Paris that both singles finals will feature the top two players in the world.
After his defeat late on Friday, 38-year-old Djokovic was asked whether he thinks he will return to play another match at the French major.
“This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know. That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end,” the former world No.1 admitted.
“I said it could have been my last match. I didn't say it was. So I don't know right now. Twelve months at this point in my career is quite a long time.”
Three doubles semis were played on Friday, with Brits Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski edging Christian Harrison and Evan King in a deciding tiebreak to set up a final on Saturday against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.
In the women’s draw it’ll be Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic who will go up against Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in Sunday’s final at 11am.
Austria’s Maximilian Taucher had cause to celebrate among the wheelchair athletes as the Austrian won a second consecutive boys’ wheelchair singles title at Roland-Garros.
And another Austrian, junior star Lilli Tagger, has been tapping into the clay court knowledge of former RG champion Francesca Schiavone en route to the girls’ final where she’ll play Britain’s Hannah Klugman on Saturday.
Day 14 will feature ten finals, including of course the women’s singles when Sabalenka and Gauff meet at 3pm.
We’ve got you covered in terms of pre-match reading with a preview by Alix Ramsay as well Chris Oddo's analysis of what’s at stake for both players.
Dan Imhoff studied what two of Aryna’s team - coach Anton Dubrov and physical trainer Jason Stacy - have been saying heading into Saturday’s match.
And Alex Sharp has been listening to Coco’s French coach Jean-Christophe Faurel talk about her development and potential.
Play starts across the Roland-Garros courts from 11am.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
