The third seed struggled in the opening set, far from his usual brilliance, but capitalized on his Italian opponent’s early cramps to level the match before it went into a decider.
Australian Open champion Sinner, set to become world number one next week, bowed out when he returned a massive forehand down the line wide on the third match point on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Double Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, aiming to add to his Wimbledon and US Open titles, will face either German Alexander Zverev or two-time runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway on Sunday.
“You have to find the joy in suffering, I think that’s the key, even more here on clay, here at Roland Garros, long rallies, four-hour matches, five sets, you have to fight, you have to suffer,” said Alcaraz.
“Probably, the toughest matches that I’ve played in my short career have been against Jannik, the U.S. Open 2022, this one, it shows the great player Jannik is… and I hope to play many, many more matches like this one against Jannik, but yes it’s one of the toughest matches that I’ve played, for sure.”
Sinner got off to an explosive start, with his poise, pace, and precision proving too much for an out-of-sorts Alcaraz as the Italian raced to a 4-0 lead.
FREE FALL
The Spaniard, however, responded by breaking back as Sinner’s first-serve percentage dipped.
Despite this, Alcaraz struggled to find his rhythm, and Sinner won another two consecutive games to take the opening set when Alcaraz netted an ill-timed drop shot.
In the second set, an unforced error from Alcaraz gave Sinner an early break. However, the Italian, who hadn’t played for nearly a month before the French Open due to a hip injury, suddenly lost his momentum. This allowed Alcaraz to capitalize, using his forehand to devastating effect and leveling the match.
The Spaniard broke for 2-1 in the third set with a gravity-defying crosscourt passing shot as Sinner’s freefall continued. Despite apparent hand cramps, the future world number one clawed his way back, saving break points in the fifth game to stay in the contest.
Sinner then broke twice more to take the set – a scenario that seemed highly unlikely when he could barely hold his racket just minutes earlier.
The match lived up to its billing in the fourth set, with both players trading impressive blows. Leading 5-4, Alcaraz rallied from 30-0 down on Sinner’s serve, winning four points in a row and forcing a decider with a crosscourt backhand winner at the end of a spectacular point.
Alcaraz snatched an early break by wrongfooting Sinner in the second game and never looked back, despite some nerves on the first two match points.
(With Reuters inputs)