Musetti retires, Alcaraz to face Sinner or Djokovic.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz reached his second consecutive final in Paris, after Italian star Lorenzo Musetti retired from their semifinal encounter on Friday. Alcaraz, who dropped the opening set, pulled back to emerge a 4-6 7-6(3) 6-0 2-0 RET. winner. He now awaits the winner of the other semifinal between World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.
Although Musetti matched his Spanish counterpart shot for shot in the opener, there was a sense that fatigue would kick in. The 23-year-old engaged in several extended rallies where he was forced to defend and play on the back foot. While he did force the errors out of his 4-time Grand Slam winning opponent initially, it was never going to be enough in the long run.
As expected, it was the World No. 2 who injected more power into the rallies early on. However, Musetti managed to paint the lines in the clutch moments and held onto his serve. Although he was forced deep behind the baseline to defend, his accurate use of the slice and lob forehand made Alcaraz play an extra shot. The 22-year-old Spaniard failed to remain patient, and got broken to eventually drop the opening set.
In the second set, Alcaraz made a vital change. Instead of attempting to land the knockout punch, he decided to play a tad bit safer. As the average rally length increased, Musetti began to wear out. Despite failing to serve out the set, the Olympic silver medalist steamrolled his way through the tiebreaker. In Set-3, the Italian began to feel a niggle which got worse as the match went on.
Having dropped the third set in 20 minutes without securing a game, Musetti dropped his serve yet again at the beginning of the fourth set. As ‘Carlitos’ prepared to serve, his opponent called it a day. In the end, Alcaraz’s 72% win percentage on first serve and 38-24 record on points between 5-8 shots made the difference.
After progressing to his second consecutive French Open final, Alcaraz extended his commiseration to Musetti. “It’s not great getting through or winning the match like this,” he said. “Lorenzo is a great player. He has had an incredible clay season. He’s one of those few players who achieved at least the semifinal in the big events on clay. I think just four players have done it before and he’s the fifth.” Alcaraz has now extended his head to head record against Musetti to 6-1.
Asked about the other semifinal, the defending champion confirmed that he will be keeping a close eye on both players. “I’m not going to miss it. This match-up is one of the best that we have in tennis – Sinner vs Djokovic. As a huge fan of tennis, I’m going to watch and enjoy – obviously I’m going to take tactics – but we all are going to enjoy that match because they’re going to play great tennis.”
Alcaraz will return to Court Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday evening, where he will bid to capture his fifth Grand Slam title and second at the French capital.
