Jannik Sinner defeated Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets on Tuesday to go to his first French Open semi-final, where he might meet opponent Carlos Alcaraz, on the same day he became world number one. The Australian Open winner, who will rise to the top of the rankings next week following Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the competition, won 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) and will face either Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final four. Sinner’s achievement of being Italy’s first number one in the sport was verified during his match when Djokovic was forced to withdraw due to an injury.
Sinner was already confident that if he reached the final at Roland Garros, he would be able to claim the top spot.
He has had a successful season, winning the Rotterdam and Miami Opens in addition to his first Grand Slam championship in Melbourne.
Sinner’s climb to the top of the ATP rankings marks the continuation of a great period in Italian men’s tennis.
Italy now has nine players in the world’s top 100, following in the footsteps of Sinner and Matteo Berrettini, who became the first Italian to reach a Grand Slam final since 1976 when he lost to Djokovic at Wimbledon three years ago.
His win-loss record this year is currently astounding 33-2, with his only two losses coming against Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semi-finals and Tsitsipas in the Monte Carlo final four.
Sinner will have to defeat either Alcaraz, with whom he has a 4-4 head-to-head record, or Tsitsipas, whom he has lost to six times in nine meetings, if he is to reach his second consecutive major final appearance.
In Tuesday’s night session, Alcaraz will meet Tsitsipas, the former Roland Garros runner-up.
Dimitrov, the 10th seed from Bulgaria, reached the quarter-finals for the first time in his 14th French Open participation, but was severely outplayed until a strong late revival.
