2025 Roland Garros: Sinner whips Djokovic, faces Alcaraz in final

Jannik Sinner, late Friday night, completed a blockbuster finals weekend line-up at 2025 Roland Garros, conquering Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) to book a men’s final against defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz.
Top seed Sinner and number 2 seed Alcaraz will follow the No. 1 vs. No. 2 women’s final between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, making it the first time both championship matches will be decided between the world’s Top 2 players since the 2013 US Open when Serena Williams defeated Victoria Azarenka and Rafael Nadal defeated Djokovic.
Playing his first Grand Slam tournament since serving a three-month anti-doping suspension, Sinner roared into his first Roland Garros final, becoming the first man to conquer the 24-time Grand Slam champion four times in a row after three hours and 16 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Sinner and defending champion Alcaraz will now face off in a rematch of their 2024 semifinal, which Alcaraz won in five sets last year.
But first, the world No. 1 had to get past a revitalized Djokovic, who entered the semifinals on a nine-match winning streak after capturing his 100th ATP title at the Gonet Geneva Open two weeks ago. After struggling with injuries and inconsistency throughout the 2025 season, Djokovic has rounded back into the form that earned him the Open Era record for Grand Slam titles, making it into his 51st major semifinal with a four-set win over world No. 3 Alexander Zverev. The win made him the second-oldest man in the Open Era to make a major semifinal.
Looking to make his 38th Grand Slam final, Djokovic had to face his Italian rival for the first time since the 2024 Australian Open, where Sinner dethroned Djokovic in four sets en route to his first major victory. Sinner has gone on to win two more majors at that year’s US Open and this year’s Australian Open—winning 21 straight matches at hard-court Grand Slam tournaments—but was yet to reach a final at either Roland Garros or Wimbledon.
He made an impressive return to action following a ban that stemmed from 2024 positive tests for the banned substance Clostebol, finishing runner-up at his home tournament at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and debuted a new return stance as he breezed through his first five matches on the terre battue without dropping a set.
He finished off surprise quarterfinalist Alexander Bublik with a 6-0 third set, and was similarly imperious to start the second men’s semifinal of the day—Alcaraz having already advanced via retirement over No. 8 seed Lorenzo Musetti. Sinner scored the lone break of the opening set, breaking Djokovic in the fifth game and served out the set to love.
Djokovic aimed to battle back in the second, thrilling the crowd by avoiding another fifth-game break and opening up a 0-30 lead on Sinner’s serve. Undaunted, Sinner dug out the hold and turned the tables on the former world No. 1, breaking and holding for a 5-3 lead.
On the brink of a two-set deficit, Djokovic clocked a 92 mile-per-hour forehand winner and earned his first two break chances of the match. Serving for the set, Sinner saved one with a 97 mile-per-hour forehand winner of his own but erred on the second as Djokovic leveled at five games apiece.
Emboldened by the break, Djokovic struck his 12th and 13th winners of the set in quick succession and appeared poised to win a third game in a row, but some ill-timed misses helped Sinner break from 40-15 down. As the match approached the two-hour mark, Sinner earned a set point with his fifth ace and converted with a 126 mile-per-hour service winner, earning a two-set lead.
Djokovic took a medical timeout before the third set to address a leg issue, but looked no worse for wear once play got underway. Aiming to extend the match, he brought the crowd to its feet when he earned three set points on Sinner’s serve in the 10th game, but Sinner saved all three and took a 5-2 lead in the ensuing tiebreaker.
A miss from the 38-year-old Serb pulled up four match points for Sinner, and though Djokovic bravely saved the first, Sinner proved unstoppable in serving out the second, booking an Alcaraz final on Sunday.
“I don’t think I have ever received this much support in this stadium in my career in big matches against the best players in the world,” Djokovic observed after the match. “So very, very honored to experience that, obviously.
“Not the happiest because of the loss, but, you know, I tried to show my gratitude to the crowd, because they were terrific in the moments when, you know, it seemed like it was going all of his way, and then they would lift me up and encourage me and give me strength to keep going and fight to the last ball, which I did.”
Sinner currently trails Alcaraz 7-4 in their head-to-head, having lost his last four meetings to the Spaniard, and will look to win his first match over his rival since 2023 (China Open).