French Open: Jannik Sinner’s New World No.1 Crown Fails to Break Andy Roddick’s Carlos Alcaraz Bias for Semi-Final Clash

Who will win the race on Parisian clay? The world number one tennis star Novak Djokovic was forced to withdraw from the QF of the 2024 French Open after sustaining a knee injury in his fourth-round match. However, both Jannik Sinner (2) and Carlos Alcaraz (3) are still well-active in this tournament, and guess what? They’re set to take on each other in a high-voltage clash in the semis!

American tennis legend Andy Roddick had initially predicted Sinner to win this year’s French Open title, as he has been undefeated at Grand Slam tournaments this year. But after watching Alcaraz’s incredible run in Paris, he has now perhaps changed his mind!

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dropped just one set so far in this tournament. But he feels the Spaniard will have a slight edge on this surface. During the recent episode of the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast, the American said, “I don’t know if I’m as confident with my Sinner over Alcaraz prediction because he has just been running through people. He has looked fantastic and maybe there is a lesson here where he adopts that [idea] of playing a more skeleton schedule.” Roddick says Alcaraz has looked absolutely “phenomenal” so far.

The 41-year-old tennis legend went on to reflect how Carlos Alcaraz has thrived in different weather conditions. He strongly believes as the weather gets better, Alcaraz also gets better with his game. “Alcaraz looks like he is in full flight and as the weather gets better, it only makes him better. He has been doing this in slow, cold, gross conditions with a forearm injury. If we get a bit of heat, that only makes Alcaraz better,” Andy Roddick.

However, Roddick has previously called Sinner the “best player on Earth during the last six months“. He also opined that probably the Italian may well also replace Novak Djokovic as the world number one by the end of this year. This has already come true, as the Serbian withdrew from the QF of the French Open and from next Monday, Jannik Sinner is the new World No. 1.

Clay courts are one of the most challenging courts for Jannik Sinner. But Carlos Alcaraz heaped praise on the Italian ahead of this mega battle at Philippe-Chatrier.

“Really difficult challenge” – Carlos Alcaraz on facing Jannik Sinner at the SF of the 2024 French Open

Jannlitos is back! With Novak Djokovic pulling out of the tournament, Jannik Sinner is now all set to become the new world number one next week, irrespective of who wins the French Open title this year. Both the tennis stars have had a stellar season so far, Jannik Sinner has won three titles this season and his win-loss record is 28-3. While Carlos Alcaraz has also won a title this year and has a win-loss record of 18-5 as of now. Both the players haven’t yet reached the finals in this tournament before. Even their H2H is well poised at 4-4, so be ready for yet another nail-biting contest in Paris.

Just before entering this battle, Carlos Alcaraz said he is very happy to reach the semis at the Roland Garros. “I’m really, really excited to play Friday against Jannik again. A really difficult challenge. I’m ready for that,” Alcaraz. After that, he went on to reflect a bit on the challenge of facing Jannik Sinner at the bigger stages of the game. “Everything he (Sinner) does, he does it perfectly. The way that he hits the ball is unbelievable. The way he moves, it’s really, really [good]. He pushes you to the limit in every ball, in every point,” Carlitos added.

He believes facing Sinner is always challenging, but at the same time, Alcaraz revealed that he loves these kinds of challenges. Share your thoughts on this high-voltage clash. Who’s your pick in this match?