Alcaraz sweats out a 5-setter to gain RG final

Carlos Alcaraz won a NextGen struggle with hot rival Jannik Sinner on Friday, squeezing out a 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory to enter his first career final at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard, a former No. 1 who now stands third, needed a fightback to overhaul his Italian opponent, winner of the Australian Open title five month ago.

Alcaraz will face off on Sunday for the title against either two-time semi-finalist Casper Ruud or fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev.

The battle between Alcaraz and Sinner lasted for more than four hours, with both men cramping in the third set before recovering to play on.

The match was no masterpiece, with more than 1000 combined unforced errors and a dozen breaks of serve from 24 aggregate chances.

Sinner saved two match points in the final game before firing wide as Alcaraz took victory.

“You have to find the joy in suffering, that was the key,” Alcaraz said. “It’s even (more intense) on the clay of Roland Garros.

“We had long rallies, four hours, five sets… we both had to fight and suffer.”

He added: “This was probably one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played – and many of them have been against Jannik.

“I hope to play many more matches like this against him, this one of my toughest for sure.

Alcaraz backed up his defeat of Sinner last March in Indian Wells as he reached his third career Grand Slam final and first at the French Open.

Sinner began the match on fire, going up a double break for 4-0 and not dropping a point on his own serve.

The Italian came down to earth slightly as he dropped serve in the sixth game but quickly put that right with a re-break of the Spaniard as Alcaraz sailed a return wide.

Sinner closed out the opener after 41 minutes on his third set point as Alcaraz sent an attempted drop shot short into the net.

Alcaraz began the second set by losing serve again, but took his first lead of the sunny afternoon as he broke Sinner back before nudging ahead 3-2.

But the Italian second seed was broken for a second time after a furious exchange of shots, with a Sinner backhand going wide to trail 2-4.

Alcaraz squared the match three games later after 90 minutes, winning the second set on his first chance as Sinner returned long to conclude with a dozen unforced errors.

Alcaraz earned an early third-set break, sending a sharply angled volley just over the net to take a 2-1 lead; Sinner immediately struck with a break-back for two games apiece.

The Italian then ran out the set with another break after having been treated by a physio with ointment and a massage for hand cramping.

Alcaraz later said he had the same problem, calling the set “weird.”

“We had to keep fighting, Keep going and the cramp will go away.

“I stayed there and fought, trying to make the points short.”

The fourth set stayed on serve until Alcaraz broke in the final game, firing a winner into the open court and sending the match into a deciding set after three and a quarter hours.

Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz celebrates winning five setter – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos