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Four Points

🎾 The end of history: In a match full of wild momentum swings, Aryna Sabalenka ended Iga Swiatek’s chances at making history at Roland-Garros. The 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 Sabalenka win kept Swiatek from a Roland-Garros four-peat. But the head-turner was Sabalenka turning it on and losing just six points in the final set.

  • What she said: “It was a big match, and it felt like a final, but I know that the job is not done yet, and I have to go out there on Saturday, and I have to fight and I have to bring my best tennis, and I have to work for that title,” said Sabalenka. “I’m ready. I’m ready to go out, and I’m ready to fight. And I’m ready to do everything it’s going to take to get the win.”
  • And what she said: “I love playing here, so for sure I’m happy that I was fortunate enough to play so many great tournaments here. Even this one, you know, I feel like I played better than weeks before,” Swiatek said during press. “She came on pretty strongly in third set and, like, just went for it. And then the set went pretty quickly.”

🎾 The storybook story ends: Coco Gauff closed out Lois Boisson’s run at Roland Garros in the semifinals on Thursday. The 22-year-old wild card ranked 361 in the world will jump up about 300 spots when the new rankings come out on Monday. She will also have more than quadrupled her career prize money with this one tournament. In short, it was a career-changing two weeks for Boisson. She will now have main draw entry into any tournament she wishes, and she will have access to all the training she needs.

  • What she said: “She played on the right and on the left and on the right” Boisson said after the match. “I just feel like I was running everywhere on the court today … I couldn’t play my game today because she was just too good.”
  • And what she said: “I was mentally prepared before the match that it was going to be 99 percent for her, but I just tried to block it out,” Gauff said. “Actually, when you guys were chanting her name I was saying to myself my name, just to psych myself.”

🎾 The late bloomer: Hats off to Evan King, the 33-year-old, who has had an incredible Roland-Garros thus far. Yesterday, playing alongside Taylor Townsend, he fought for the mixed doubles title, falling just short. Meanwhile, he’s playing with Christian Harrison in the men’s doubles semifinal today. That’s a testament to stick-to-itiveness if we here at Court Theory HQ ever saw it.

🎾 Data point: The Roland-Garros switch from Tennis Channel and NBC to TNT Sports is already yielding greater results. French Open viewership was up 23% in the first week compared to last year, according to Front Office Sports. When truTV and streaming on MAX were added to the mix, the increase jumped up to 53% in total hours watched.

And, that’s game.

Watch These!

🔥 Carlos Alcaraz vs. Lorenzo Musetti (Semifinals): More than anything, this is a temperature check match for Alcaraz to see where his head is at this stage of the tournament. Musetti is a beautiful clay court player — the most consistent one of this clay season, in fact — but there’s something about this match-up that just doesn’t work in his favor.

  • The record: Carlos Alcaraz leads the head-to-head record over Lorenzo Musetto, 5-1. Three of those Alcaraz wins have been on clay.
  • On the line: Musetti desperately wants to establish himself as one of the best in the world, but he’s struggled to log wins against the players at the very top of the game (except Zverev). Meanwhile, Alcaraz wants to play in the final and is happy to face Djokovic or Sinner.

🔥 Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner (Semifinals): This Roland-Garros, we’ve learned that Djokovic can dominate play, that he can outlast opponents, and that he still has a strong desire to win. What we don’t know, however, is whether or not he can absorb repeated body blows. That’s what he’ll get against Jannik Sinner. If Sinner plays at the same level he has all tournament long, how Djokovic handles them will decide whether or not he has a shot against the world number one.

  • The record: Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner are tied at four apiece. However, Sinner won their last three meetings in a row.
  • On the line: For Sinner, this is a shot at his first Roland-Garros final and possibly the title. Meanwhile, Djokovic wants everyone to stop talking about the substandard previous six months. Landing in the final would go a long way toward that.

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