Jannik Sinner powered past Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets on Tuesday (Jun 4) to reach his first French Open semi-final, having struggled at the Grand Slam the past two years. 

The Australian Open champion, who will become world number one next week after Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the tournament, eased to a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory and will take on either Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last four.

Sinner’s achievement of becoming Italy’s first number one in the sport was secured during his match, as the injury-enforced withdrawal of Djokovic was announced.

“What can I say?” said the 22-year-old.

“It’s every player’s dream to become number one in the world. On the other hand, seeing Novak retiring (from the tournament) is disappointing, so I wish him a speedy recovery.”