Jannik Sinner Wants to Face Lorenzo Musetti as He Dreams of All-Italian Roland Garros Final

Jannik Sinner has scheduled a mouthwatering semifinal clash with Novak Djokovic at the French Open.

Jannik Sinner Wants to Face Lorenzo Musetti as He Dreams of All-Italian Roland Garros Final

Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti (Image via X/#AusOpen, #MMOpen)

An all-Italian final at the Roland Garros? But for that to happen, both Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti have a gigantic task in front of them.

Sinner for sure has upped his level on clay, for he is serving bagels and breadsticks to his opponents. En route to reaching the semifinals, the three-time Grand Slam champion won a set 6-0 three times against three different opponents, and also thrice he registered a 6-1 set win.

On Wednesday (June 4), a similar thing was seen on Court Philippe-Chatrier. It’s the crowd’s roaring applause and his opponents celebrating their first game win after being down 5-0 in a set.

His opponent in the semifinal was Alexander Bublik, who after losing the first set 6-1, tried to force a comeback by forcing Sinner to play at the net by hitting drop shots but Sinner somehow won it and he did not look back, wrapping up the match quickly in his favor with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 scoreline. His next opponent is none other than 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

His compatriot Lorenzo Musetti went past Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to schedule a semifinal match against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner, after beating the Kazakh ace, asked in the on-court interview if he dreams of an all-Italian Roland Garros final.

Me and Lorenzo…actually, I think he just texted me. It’s good. We support each other very well. We know each other much better now because of playing Davis Cup together. We have a good relationship off the court. Let’s see. It would be nice. It’s something I believe we would like to make happen. In the other way, he has a very very tough match. I have a very very tough match.

If Sinner and Musetti beat their respective opponents, then they will face each other for the third time. Sinner has won their previous two clashes. They were also pitted against each other in the 2023 Barcelona Open quarterfinal but Musetti received a walkover.

Novak Djokovic makes his feelings on his semifinal match against Jannik Sinner at the Roland Garros

Novak Djokovic will be meeting Jannik Sinner for the ninth time. In their previous eight matches, both have won four matches each.

Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic
Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Served with Andy Roddick Podcast, We Are Tennis)

But it’s Sinner who clinched victories the last three times they played, including in the Australian Open semifinal last year. They locked horns just once on clay: in the third round of the 2021 Monte Carlo Masters which Djokovic won.

Thrice they met in the semifinals and twice in finals (in the 2023 ATP Finals and the 2024 Shanghai Masters). Ahead of their match, Djokovic said facing the 23-year-old Italian is a “good challenge for me, it’s only going to get tougher“. But he understands that a tough challenge is always there in the last stages of Grand Slam tournaments.

Jannik, well, I mean Jannik is in a tremendous form and he has been the best player for the last couple of years, deservedly…I mean, he is playing some terrific attacking tennis and you know, just super, super strong, from aspect of the game.

Novak Djokovic said at the press conference

Before setting up the blockbuster clash with Sinner, the 38-year-old denied a chance to Alexander Zverev to win his first Grand Slam title. When Djokovic lost the first set, perhaps many expected him to lose the match.

The Serb, however, turned the tide completely in his favor by winning the next two sets, before eventually claiming the fourth and booking a spot in the semifinals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 scoreline. Djokovic has now improved his head-to-head lead over the three-time Major finalist to 9-5.

Also read: Toni Nadal Weighs in on Why He Won’t Coach Carlos Alcaraz in the Future