Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will be facing each other for the 13th time in their careers when they battle for the French Open title on Sunday afternoon.
They have squared off in a Challenger, an ATP 250, an ATP 500, a Masters 1000, and a Grand Slam. Finally, they will collide in a slam final.
Alcaraz leads the head-to-head series 8-4 overall, including 3-1 on clay and 1-0 at the French Open. The Spaniard has won four in a row against Sinner heading into Sunday. In the 2024 Roland Garros semis, Alcaraz won 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. He most recently prevailed 7-6(5), 6-1 in the Rome Masters final a few weeks ago.
Alcaraz has been the best player on this current clay-court swing (of course, Sinner missed most of it due to suspension). The world No. 2 captured titles in Monte-Carlo and Rome while finishing runner-up in Barcelona. He is through to another final following wins this fortnight at the expense of Giulio Zeppieri, Fabian Marozsan, Damir Dzumhur, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, and Lorenzo Musetti (the latter via fourth-set retirement).
Sinner has returned from his three-month absence like gangbusters. The top-ranked Italian was good in Rome and has been great at Roland Garros. On his way to the championship match, Sinner did not drop a single set while defeating Arthur Rinderknech, Richard Gasquet, Jiri Lehecka, Andrey Rublev, Alexander Bublik, and Novak Djokovic.
This could go either way, and whatever the eventual outcome it should be one of the best matches of the year. I’m giving a slight edge to a more solid, consistent Sinner.
Pick: Sinner in 4
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.