The French Open is set to have a new men’s champion as Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev will compete for the iconic Musketeers Cup at Roland Garros.
The last time the clay Major had a first-time winner was back in 2016 when Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in the final.Alcaraz came into this tournament with barely any game time on clay due to a forearm injury. Still, the Spaniard did not face many issues in the first five rounds, including a straight-sets win over 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas which extended his head-to-head advantage to 6-0
However, he looked in trouble when reigning Australian Open champion and soon-to-be World No. 1 Jannik Sinner took a two-sets-to-one lead against him in the semifinals. The 21-year-old Spaniard found another gear in the last two sets and completed a memorable comeback to become the youngest man in the Open era to reach Grand Slam finals on all three surfaces. For the third year in a row, he is in a Major final and continues to prove that he is one of the rising stars.
Someone who did show promise at Alcaraz’s age but failed to live up to the expectations is Zverev. The 27-year-old German reached his only Major final four years ago at US Open where he choked against Dominic Thiem after winning the first two sets.
Zverev seemed to be finding another level to his game in 2022 when an unfortunate ankle injury in the French Open semifinals against Rafael Nadal came as a massive set back.
Two years later, things are finally falling in place for the German.
The fourth seeded German entered the tournament after winning the Italian Open and began his campaign by knocking out 14-time champion Nadal in the first round. He even overcame wobbles against Tallon Griekspoor in third and Holger Rune in fourth round to win gruelling five-set battles.
He also got redemption for last year’s semifinal defeat to Casper Ruud by beating the Norwegian at the same stage this time. All this while, the German also had a trial going on against him as his former girlfriend had accused him of domestic abuse but that case too was closed on Friday with an out-of-court settlement.
Not only has Zverev served well in this edition of the French Open, his backhand has been a strong weapon. Unless Alcaraz and his coach and former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero find a solution to the big game of the German, it is going to be extremely tough for the Spaniards to stop Zverev from opening his Grand Slam account.