Revisit days nine and 10 of the 2024 French Open with Novak Djokovic withdrawing due to injury and Coco Gauff, Alcaraz, Sinner and Swiatek all advancing to the semis
Max Mathews
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Michael Bailey·Live Reporter
French Open 2024 – Djokovic withdraws, key matches, scores
- World No 1 Novak Djokovic withdraws through injury on Day 10.
- Alcaraz (3) beats Tsitsipas (9), Sinner (2) beats Dimitrov (10).
- Gauff (3) beats Jabeur (8), Swiatek (1) thrashes Vondrousova (5).
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Looking ahead to Alcaraz vs Sinner
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The marquee semifinal on the men's side will feature Carlos Alcaraz (3) taking on Jannik Sinner (2). The two players have met eight times previously, splitting those four apiece.
Sinner has won the only meeting on clay, coming from a set down to beat the Spaniard in the 2022 Croatia Open final. They've met twice at majors, Sinner prevailing in the 2022 Wimbledon round of 16 before Alcaraz returned the favor in the US Open quarterfinals later that year.
Their most recent meeting came in the semifinals at Indian Wells earlier this year, Alcaraz rallying to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
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Alcaraz hits 50 Grand Slam victories
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This result marks Carlos Alcaraz's 50th win at a Grand Slam, compared to just 10 such losses. He's the third-quickest player to reach 50 major wins, bested only by Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe who each did it in one less match.
The 21-year-old has also improved to 6-0 against Stefanos Tsitsipas, becoming the youngest player to defeat an opponent in all of his first six meetings in ATP events since Andy Roddick did so against Xavier Malisse in 2003.
Alcaraz: 'Sinner is playing the best tennis right now'
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Carlos Alcaraz spoke on the court after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas: "I controlled my emotions very well and I'm really happy with the way I played."
On facing Jannik Sinner in the semifinals: "It's a really difficult challenge. He is playing the best tennis right now. Thanks to him, I push myself to be a better player. I am grateful to have him playing and love watching him play. It's the match everyone wants to watch."
Alcaraz advances to semis, will face Sinner
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Our first semifinal matchup is set, as Carlos Alcaraz (3) will face Jannik Sinner (2) in a titanic clash.
Alcaraz beats Tsitsipas in straight sets!
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-7(3) 4-6 ALCARAZ
Serving for the match, Alcaraz quickly falls behind 30-0 thanks to two unforced errors. He then hits two great serves that Tsitsipas can't handle and just like that it's 30-30.
Tsitsipas goes long on the next point, the chair umpire stepping down to confirm the call, and it's match point.
It's all over moments later as Alcaraz dinks a drop shot that Tsitsipas can't get to.
Alcaraz on the verge
TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-7(3) 4-5* ALCARAZ
Tsitsipas manages to hold but Alcaraz will serve for the match now.
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Alcaraz is showing off now
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-7(3) 3-4* ALCARAZ
Alcaraz just caught that missed second serve – with his bare hand – from Tsitsipas to confirm the break. That was some way to complete what could be the beginning of the end for Stefanos. Don't forget, Alcaraz is 21...
Tsitsipas gifts Alcaraz break
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-7(3) 3-4* ALCARAZ
Tsitsipas gets up 30-0 in his service game but then loses four straight points, beginning with a double fault and ending with another, to gift-wrap his opponent a break.
Alcaraz can see the finish line now.
Things are getting a bit spicy
TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-7(3) 3-2* ALCARAZ
We haven't seen a break yet in the third set but we have seen something more notable: Tsitsipas just came perilously close to nailing Alcaraz with a powerful overhead slam from point-blank range. Alcaraz immediately looked back at his opponent expecting an apology, which Tsitsipas obliged by holding up one arm. Let's see if that's the last of that...
Tsitsipas on umpire head-cam
Roland Garros
TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-7(3) *1-1 ALCARAZ
The view from the chair umpire as Tsitsipas asked for Alcaraz to be penalized for hindrance.
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Alcaraz wins second set!
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-7(3) ALCARAZ
Facing the first of three set points, Tsitsipas tries a drop shot and leaves it short, losing the tiebreak 7-3.
On the subject of Tsitsipas wanting Alcaraz called for hindrance, the consensus at The Athletic is that the noise from Alcaraz was far below the threshold needed for making that call.
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Tsitsipas wants Alcaraz called for hindrance
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-6 ALCARAZ
Down 5-1 in the tiebreak, Tsitsipas halts play for a moment to speak to the chair umpire. He feels that Alcaraz has been hindering his play by grunting during his shots. The crowd begin to lightly boo Tsitsipas, who leaves the discussion with the umpire unsatisfied.
Sponsorship placement on court
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-6 ALCARAZ
There was a non-tennis moment there at 6-5 with Alcaraz trying to break Tsitsipas to win the second set. It's worth pausing on before we move on to the tiebreak.
There are Haier advertising boxes on either side of the net. As noted on the broadcast, those "do nothing but pay the bills … why not move them back?" We don’t know the answer here except perhaps to act as a buffer or a safety precaution for the ball kids. Sponsorship is part of the business but I can definitively say I wouldn’t want to be in the Haier boardroom when that discussion happened on TV during a massive Grand Slam quarterfinal with two young superstars.
Tiebreak time!
TSITSIPAS 3-6 6-6 ALCARAZ
After confident holds of serve by both players, we're into a tiebreak to decide the second set.
Alcaraz nailing his first serves
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 *5-6 ALCARAZ
A good first-serve percentage (that is, the percentage of them that go in) is considered to be around about 60-70%, depending on the risk-reward of that first serve.
Carlos Alcaraz is currently around 84%.
No wonder Tsitsipas is struggling to get a foothold on return.
Tsitsipas clinging on
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 5-5* ALCARAZ
This is the reality of tennis – every point is on a razor’s edge and every tiny dink and donk (and clay spray?) along the way can turn the momentum of a match. Tsitsipas has managed to hold through to 5-5 and if he can manage a break and win this second set, all bets are off. You might even literally bet on him to pull it out finally against the Spaniard.
But the broad momentum is headed toward the Iberian Peninsula. Carlos is playing so offensively, so powerfully, so overwhelmingly that Tsitsipas is forced to lie in wait and try to get the ball over the net on Alcaraz’s service games.
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Tsitsipas holds to level second set
TSITSIPAS 3-6 4-4* ALCARAZ
Tsitsipas quickly gets in trouble in his service game and has to survive a break point. Once he does, he takes control of the game with a well-executed drop shot and closes it out to level the second set.
Tsitsipas breaks Alcaraz!
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TSITSIPAS 3-6 *3-4 ALCARAZ
It took exactly one hour but Tsitsipas has broken Alcaraz's serve for the first time in this match.
Tsitsipas gave himself two break points. Alcaraz fought off the first one with an impressive 21-shot rally, but lost the next one after sending a forehand long.
Tsitsipas is back on serve and can level the second set here.
The next era of men's tennis
TSITSIPAS 3-6 2-4* ALCARAZ
Three years ago when everyone thought Tsitsipas had every chance to be the next big thing, the ages of those in the ATP top 10 were well above 30. We were still in the Big Three (plus Medvedev?) era.
Now? It’s much more of a mix. But consider that all of these men will be facing each other incessantly in the quarterfinals and beyond of every major for the next 5-8 years.
- Jannik Sinner: 22 years old
- Novak Djokovic: 37
- Carlos Alcaraz: 21
- Alexander Zverev: 27
- Daniil Medvedev: 28
- Andrey Rublev: 26
- Casper Ruud: 25
- Hubert Hurkacz: 27
- Stefanos Tsitsipas: 25
- Grigor Dimitrov: 33
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