Brilliant Sinner Beats Djokovic to Set up Alcaraz’s Final

.World’s best two women’s players, Gauff, Sabalenka face off today

Top seed, Jannik Sinner teed up the French Open final against Carlos Alcaraz that many expected after edging past Novak Djokovic in a tense last-four contest.

Italy’s Sinner won 6-4 7-5 7-6 (7-3) to end Djokovic’s hopes of winning a standalone record 25th Grand Slam title.

Defending champion Alcaraz moved into his second successive Roland Garros final after eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti retired injured in the fourth set of their semi-final earlier yesterday.

Sinner, playing only his second tournament back after a three-month ban for failing two doping tests, meets the Spanish second seed on Sunday.

The pair were the clear favourites before the clay-court Grand Slam tournament and will now write another chapter in their developing rivalry.

Alcaraz led 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 2-0 when Italy’s Musetti, aiming to reach his first major final, was forced to end the match early.

“It’s never fair. I want to win but not like this,” said Alcaraz.

Meanwhile, for the first time in seven years, the best two women’s players in the world will meet in a Grand Slam final when ArynaSabalenka and Coco Gauff face off at the French Open.

A new women’s singles champion will be crowned either way, with world number one Sabalenka seeking a fourth major singles title and second-ranked Gauff a second.

Gauff, the US Open champion in 2023, finished runner-up in Paris three years ago, while two-time Australian Open winner and last year’s New York champion Sabalenka is in a first Roland Garros final.

The pair have five wins apiece from 10 previous meetings before going head-to-head on Court Philippe Chatrier, where the winner will take home 2.5m euros (£2.1m) and 2,000 ranking points.