Carlos Alcaraz can defend his Roland Garros title on Sunday. The Spaniard was severely tested by Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-finals on Friday, until the Italian retired injured. In the final, Alcaraz will play against Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic.
The semi-final initially went evenly. In the first nine games of set 1, both players held their service games. But at 5-4, Musetti struck. He forced the 22-year-old Alcaraz into mistakes, took the first break and won the set 6-4.
In the second set, there were breaks back and forth. But otherwise, the numbers two and seven in the world still didn’t give each other an inch. Only at 6-6 did Alcaraz make the difference, but he did so convincingly: 7-3 in the tiebreak. That made it 1-1 in sets.
Alcaraz got a taste for it and thundered over Musetti in the third set. He didn’t give the 23-year-old Italian a single game. This was also because Musetti was increasingly bothered by physical complaints.
Musetti can’t continue, Alcaraz to final
Musetti did start the fourth set, but quickly fell to a 0-2 deficit. The Italian then decided to abandon the fight.
Alcaraz can win his fifth Grand Slam and will play in the final against Sinner or Djokovic. The world number one and three-time Roland Garros winner will face each other in the second semi-final on Friday evening.
Musetti had to make do with a standing ovation from the Parisian public and encouraging words from Alcaraz. “He is a great player and I wish him a speedy recovery. Then hopefully we will soon enjoy his tennis again,” the winner reacted immediately after the match.