Carlos Alcaraz Pays Tribute to New Number One Jannik Sinner
Roland Garros
June 5, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz dismissed the feeble challenge of Stefanos Tsitsipas – and then paid tribute to a far more formidable foe.
Jannik Sinner will become the new world number one on Monday – whatever happens for the rest of Roland Garros.
The forced withdrawal of Novak Djokovic due to a torn meniscus left the way open for Sinner to be crowned after he beat a disappointing Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
Jannik said: ‘It’s a special day for me. My first Roland Garros semi-final – and to reach the ranking of world #1. But the work doesn’t stop here.’
Meanwhile for Novak, the recovery work has only just begun. He faces a race against time to be ready to fight for his 25th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon 2024.
Carlos Alcaraz is reigning Wimbledon champion, of course. He is the man to beat when Wimbledon 2024 gets underway in less than a month.
And the Spaniard took Stefanos Tsitsipas apart in their Roland Garros quarter-final, just as he said he would. That 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory was more one-sided than neutrals would have liked.
The only real drama came during a second-set tie-break. The Greek was already 1-4 down when he couldn’t clear the net and blamed a loud and extended grunt from Alcaraz for putting him off.
Even if this was indeed a piece of manufactured gamesmanship from the younger man, Stefanos was already psychologically scrambled as he protested to the umpire.
He hadn’t come out with all guns blazing at the start – despite plenty of pre-match provocation from the alarmingly honest Carlitos.
And while Stef’s father Apostolos remains such a heavy influence over him, it’s hard to see Tsitsipas becoming the trophy-laden superstar we all want him to be.
Alcaraz quickly turned his thoughts to his semi-final rival Jannik Sinner – after patting himself on the back for the way he controlled his emotions against Stefanos.
Carlos said of Sinner: ‘He’s the best player in the world, the one playing the best tennis right now. Thanks to him, I push myself to be better and try to beat him.
‘I’m grateful to him. Our semi-final is the match everyone wants to watch. I’m sure we’ll both show our best tennis and we’ll see who wins.’
Carlos Alcaraz versus Jannik Sinner is the showdown everyone wants to watch at Wimbledon 2024 as well.
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