Roland Garros semi-finals: A semi-final expected in advance as Sinner, Alcaraz progress to final four
by Devesh Jaganath | by Cydias Aujard
Sinner set for blockbuster final four showdown
World number one Jannik Sinner continued his dominance at the French Open this week, overpowering Alexander Bublik in under two hours to reach the semi-final of the competition. Sinner steamrolled the Kazakh 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 and has yet to lose a set in Paris, while he has not dropped serve since his first match of the tournament against Arthur Rinderknech. He is now ready to take on the Serbian and we tell you everything you have to know in our Sinner vs Djokovic prediction.
With his quarter-final victory, Sinner has now won an incredible 19 straight Grand Slam matches, which includes his title runs at the 2025 Australian Open and 2024 US Open. The Italian is now the youngest man to win as many matches as he has in this run since Rafael Nadal way back in 2008.
Djokovic musters massive comeback to down Zverev
Veteran Novak Djokovic rolled back the years in the quarter-final and reminded everyone that he still has what it takes to beat the best in the business. The 38-year-old produced a stunning effort, coming from a set down to topple the number three seed Alexander Zverev and confirm our tennis predictions for the match.
Coming into the French Open, many had written off the 24-time Grand Slam champion, but his victory over the German has moved him back inside the top five in the live ATP Rankings, now just one win away from the top four. Djokovic will now face Sinner in the semi-final, and these two have split their eight previous encounters, four wins apiece. However, only one of those matches came on dirt, and the Serbian won it in straight sets.
Musetti looking to defy the odds in semis
Lorenzo Musetti became the second Italian to book his ticket to the final four of Roland Garros by beating American Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in just shy of three hours on Court Philippe Chatrier. In doing so, the number eight seed earned his first French Open semi-final berth, but he faces a massive challenge, set to take on Carlos Alcaraz this weekend.
However, Musetti’s progress in this competition should not come as that big of a surprise, as he has been one of the most in-form players on clay this season, having reached the last four in all three of the principal warm-up events leading up to the French Open. Key to his success has been his serve, as he fired eight aces against Tiafoe and maintained an 81% success rate on his first serve.
Alcaraz peaking at perfect moment in Paris
Of all the quarter-final matchups, Carlos Alcaraz delivered the most commanding victory, dispatching Tommy Paul with ease. By the end of the second set against the American, the defending champion had only dropped a single set and went on to win the match in rapid time 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, booking his place in the semi-final for a second year on the bounce.
The number two seed smashed an incredible 39 winners and became the first defending champion to reach the final four following a title run since Rafael Nadal in 2021. Alcaraz is now 32-2 on clay dating back to May last year and is now gunning for a third title on the surface, having already won in Monte-Carlo and Rome. He's aiming to become only the third man to ever defend the Roland Garros title after Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten.
We will be covering all the men’s semi-finals with our French Open Predictions - Roland Garros, so be sure to check them out!
Sabalanka and Gauff to face off in French Open final
The semi-final in the women’s singles delivered one of the most memorable matches in recent history, as Aryna Sabalenka brought an end to Iga Swiatek’s dominance at the French Open with a stunning third-set performance. The number one seed snapped Swiatek’s 26-match win streak with a 7-6(7/1), 4-6, 6-0 victory to reach her first final of the clay-court Grand Slam, where she will come up against Coco Gauff. Check out our Sabalenka vs Gauff prediction to make sure not to miss any detail!
This will be the first women’s Grand Slam final between the world number 1 and 2 since Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniak at the 2018 Australian Open!
Gauff proved too good in her semi-final match against wildcard Lois Boisson, beating the hometown favourite in just 69 minutes, while dropping only three sets (6-1, 6-2). The American number one has only lost one set en route to the final and now holds a record of 26-5 in the French capital. Gauff and Sabalenka have met 10 times in the past and have won five matches each.
