Carlos Alcaraz continued his imperious march through the clay-court season as he reached his second consecutive French Open final by defeating Lorenzo Musetti, the eighth seed, who was forced to retire with a left thigh injury while Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 2-0.
After a difficult start to the year, the 22-year-old has found his way in a clay-court season that has yielded Masters 1000 titles in Monte Carloand Rome. He will now attempt to become the third man this century, after Gustavo Kuerten and Rafael Nadal, to retain the French Open. Alcaraz, the second seed in Paris, is also the fifth-youngest man in the open era to reach five grand slam finals and he will attempt to extend his record to winning all of them. He has won 21 matches and lost once on clay this year.
Alcaraz will face either Jannik Sinner, the world No 1, or the 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic in the final. “I’m not going to miss it,” said Alcaraz of the second semi-final. “This match is one of the best match-ups we have in tennis right now, Sinner against Djokovic. It’s going to be great tennis. As a huge fan of tennis, I’m going to watch it, I’m going to enjoy it. Of course, I’m going to take tactics from the match.”
Although the Spaniard was in the favourable half of the draw, away from Novak Djokovic and others, Musetti has established himself as one of the toughest opponents in the sport. The pair have spent much of their young lives competing against each other after coming up through the junior circuit together. Although the 23-year-old Musetti enjoyed a greater junior career, Alcaraz established himself at the top of the sport faster than most players in history. Over the past year, the Italian has finally made a significant leap forward.
Last year he reached his first grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon and won an Olympic bronze medal at Roland Garros. He followed those breakthrough results with a remarkable clay-court season this year, reaching his first Masters 1000 final in Monte Carlo and then rolling to the semi-finals in Madrid and Rome. After playing and winning so many matches recently, the physical challenge presented by Alcaraz proved a step too far.
In this era of rigid, one-note baseliners, Musetti’s style is as distinct as Alcaraz’s. He peppers opponents with his variety of shots, including backhand slices, drop shots, net forays, and a sweet single-handed backhand. He is also a brilliant athlete and one of the very best movers. The two players’ shared creativity made for a wonderful spectacle for two and a half sets on Court Philippe-Chatrier, where no two shots either man struck were the same.
The confidence and momentum Musetti has built in recent weeks was immediately evident. He started the match playing fearless, varied tennis, serving well, attacking his forehand and searching for opportunities to close down the net. He outsmarted and outmanoeuvred Alcaraz, who prides himself on his ability to disrupt his opponents, throughout the opening set.
Alcaraz had to be patient as he tried to turn the match around. He failed to consolidate his early break in set two, immediately handing the break back, then he also failed to serve out the set at 6-5. While he lost his focus on key points, he also had to accept that his opponent’s stellar level caused much of his misfortune. Despite his issues, Alcaraz saved his best stretch of tennis for the most critical point of the match, blazing through a brilliant tie-break to take the second set.
With that, Alcaraz opened his shoulders and began to consistently impose his greater weight of shot. He grew in confidence behind his serve and struck his forehand spectacularly from then on, tearing apart Musetti’s brilliant defence. “He was playing great tennis,” said Alcaraz. “When I won the second set, it was a little bit of a relief. In the third set, I knew what I had to do, just to push him to the limit. Just trying to be aggressive, not let him dominate the game and just being myself. I was more calm, I could see things more clearly and I played great tennis at the beginning of the third set.”
However, as Alcaraz gained momentum in the third set, Musetti gradually began to slow down. Down 5-0, the match falling away from him, the Italian received a medical timeout for his left thigh. He lasted only three more games before he decided he could no longer continue.