Heading into the 2024 Roland Garros men’s singles semifinals, we know this: There will be a new Roland Garros champion. Will it be Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, or Casper Ruud? UTR Sports INSIGHTS previews Friday’s semifinals.
(3) Carlos Alcaraz (UTR Rating 16.20) vs. (2) Jannik Sinner (16.31)
The must-see matchup of the ATP Tour greets us again, this time in the Roland Garros semifinals. It will mark edition No. 9 of Alcaraz vs. Sinner, who have split their eight meetings. Sinner won their lone clay-court match, almost two years ago in Umag, Croatia, and Alcaraz won their most recent battle in the Indian Wells semifinals.
Both men have dropped only one set thus far and knocked out in-form players in the quarterfinals. Sinner beat Grigor Dimitrov (15.78), who was playing in his first Roland Garros quarterfinal, and Alcaraz eliminated Monte-Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas (16.01).
Perhaps a more relaxed Sinner will come out against Alcaraz, as the Italian is already guaranteed to make his debut at No. 1 come Monday, when the new rankings are released.
"He probably is one of the most difficult challenges that we can face in tennis right now. I think he's the best player in the world,” Alcaraz said of Sinner. “Everybody wants to watch this match."
INSIGHTS says Alcaraz will have to wait another year before making his first French Open final, as ithas Sinner as a 56% favorite to make his second consecutive major championship final.
(7) Casper Ruud (UTR Rating 16.03) vs. (4) Alexander Zverev (15.90)
Casper Ruud has played in two Roland Garros finals, but both times against one of the all-time greats of the sport – Rafael Nadal (15.53) and Novak Djokovic (16.17). This fortnight, Ruud heads into the semifinals and Nadal and Djokovic are both absent. Is this the year the three-time major championship finalist gets over the hump?
Alexander Zverev will have other ideas, having come within two points of winning the 2020 US Open title. The 27-year-old has done a bit of everything in Paris. He started by knocking out 14-time champion Nadal and later took out the likes of top 15 seeds Holger Rune (15.46) and Alex de Minaur (15.92) en route to the last four.
Ruud, for his part, beat two seeded players – No. 12 Taylor Fritz (15.89)and No. 28 Tomas Martin Etcheverry (15.61)– but received a walkover against Djokovic, who withdrew from Roland Garros because of a torn meniscus in his right knee and has already undergone a successful surgery on the injury.
INSIGHTS says Ruud rolls on, as he’s a 58% favorite to reach his third Roland Garros title match.
INSIGHTS and UTR Rating data as of 10 a.m. ET, Thursday, June 6, 2024.