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Ja Morant
One of the defining images of the French Open for the past 20 years has been a headband-wearing, fist-pumping Rafael Nadal sliding on red clay bellowing “Vamos!” at top volume.
With the 14-time champion firmly in the twilight of his career and having bowed out in the first round in Paris, the rallying cry now lives on in the heart of a new Spanish contender.
With a 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win, 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz survived budding Italian rival Jannik Sinner to advance to the third Grand Slam final of his career. The reigning Wimbledon champion and the U.S. Open champion in 2022, Alcaraz flexed and expanded his dominion Friday — he is the first man to reach a Grand Slam final on all three surfaces before turning 22.
Asked whether he was aware of that milestone after the match, Alcaraz smiled. Yes, he knew. He checks his phone after playing, of course.
“Well, I always wanted to be one of the best players in the world,” he said. “If I want to be, you know, one of the best players in the world, I have to be a good player on every surface, like Roger [Federer] did, Novak [Djokovic], Rafa [Nadal], [Andy] Murray. The best players in the world had success on every surface.”
It felt fitting that Alcaraz and Sinner, the two nascent greats of their young generation, met in the French Open’s first semifinals since 2014 in which all four players are under the age of 30. With 27-year-old Alexander Zverev beating 25-year-old Casper Ruud, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, in the second match of the
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