Sinner on Alcaraz defeat: ‘It’s part of my growing process’
Jannik Sinner will move to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings following Roland Garros.By ATP Staff
Despite his obvious disappointment, Jannik Sinner is taking the positives out of his Roland Garros run, which ended at the hands of friend and rival Carlos Alcaraz at the semi-final stage on Friday.
The 22-year-old Italian led the Spaniard by two sets to one before he eventually fell in five sets in a contest that lasted four hours and 10 minutes.
“I think it was a great match. For definitely the sets he won he played better in the critical points. I think it was the key. Obviously upset how it ended, but that’s part of my learning and the process,” Sinner said. “Thinking back before the tournament reaching this point, I’m obviously very happy.
“In the other way, I’m disappointed about the match today. Now I’m going to keep looking forward to improve, to try to do my best I can and then we see what I can accomplish in the future here in this competition. If we look the good side, I have improved from last year.”
Sinner, who will reach to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday, was competing in the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the first time. The Australian Open champion dropped just one set en route to the semi-finals until he succumbed to Alcaraz, who advanced to 5-4 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Their rivalry is one of the most exciting on Tour, with their matchup on Friday one of the most anticipated matches of the year. Sinner is excited for more heavyweight clashes with Alcaraz in the future.
“If we watch the results, we always or most likely play against [each other] in the semis or final or quarters, [in] very important matches. I believe that’s exciting for the game, especially when head-to-head is pretty close,” Sinner said. “And the winner is happy and then the loser tries to find a way to beat him the next time. I believe that’s exciting. That’s what I shall strive to do.
“I think we study each other very well. You can see a little bit of tension occasionally of both players and both sides just because we know each other slowly a little bit better. Each time when we play against [each other] we expect a couple of things and then to mix up the plan, you make various decisions sometimes on the court. I think next time definitely is going to be different.”
Sinner entered Roland Garros having missed Rome because to a hip ailment. The 13-time tour-level titlist looked comfortable during his opening five matches but suffered with tightness during the third set against Alcaraz.
“For sure, some tension. Tension and after cramp a little bit,” Sinner said of his on-court issues. “I handled these situations a little bit better now. I had earlier years similar kind of occasions where I couldn’t handle them. If we watch it, I handled them a little bit better. It was quite early in the match. We didn’t play that much, so I was not worried about my body. Was keeping up fairly well.”
Sinner leaves Paris boasting a 33-3 record for the season. He is next set to compete at the ATP 500 grass-court event in Halle, which begins a week from Monday.
