Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz qualified this Friday for the final of Roland Garros, the second ‘Grand Slam’ of the season played on clay courts, after his opponent, Italian Lorenzo Musetti, retired. He will face Italian Jannik Sinner on Sunday, who defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic.
The player from Murcia was left alone at a moment when he had resurged after two irregular hours and rallied to dominate 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-0 and 2-0. The current champion will have the opportunity to win his fifth ‘major’ in his fifth final against a Sinner who did not give the Belgrade legend any chance with a 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3) in the second semifinal.
El Palmar had to work hard to secure a ticket for the final defense of his Parisian throne because he couldn’t find his usual form against a Musetti who put him in many difficulties and showed why he was, alongside the world number two, the best clay court player of the season with a record of 18-3 and semifinals in all the major tournaments of the tour.
And for a moment, the possible surprise of Alcaraz’s elimination loomed over Philippe-Chatrier, as he had shown himself to be quite solid but had been struggling for almost two hours against the player from Carrara. The blow of losing the second set and the physical problems in his left leg eventually led to his elimination. Nevertheless, the winner of four Grand Slam titles will have to improve after finishing with 32 unforced errors, 30 of them between the first and second sets, compared to just 22 in his previous match.
Alcaraz did not start well and was far from resembling the tennis player who had dominated in the quarterfinals against the American Tommy Paul. His errors, some of them at the net where he usually does not make concessions, prevailed over his successes and that gave more confidence to a well-established Musetti who knew how to seize his opportunity.
And despite an uneven game, the current champion was the one who had the best chances to break in the closely contested first set, but did not take advantage of his opportunity in the first game and, above all, at 3-3. The Italian handled both issues well and did not forgive his opponent’s poor game at 5-4 to break and take the lead as happened in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000.
Just like in the Principality, the reaction of the player from Murcia seemed to be swift and with a quick ‘break’ he took control of the second set. However, it was a short-lived joy because the eighth seed quickly recovered the disadvantage and regained the lead on the scoreboard. The defending champion was hitting more winners, but was unable to avoid unforced errors that prevented him from finding the necessary rhythm against a solid Musetti on Chatrier.
The best news for the world number two was that he managed to maintain his serve well, but the worst was that he once again let two valuable break opportunities slip away at 4-4. Despite this, he achieved a second break that gave him the chance to close the set, but this opportunity was also wasted with untimely errors, leading him to an always unpredictable tiebreak.
But that’s when the match started to break in favor of Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil, a clear dominator of the tie-break (7/3) to even a match that radically changed its course. Alcaraz settled in, felt comfortable, and displayed his best tennis to overwhelm a Musetti with no response. After having fought for almost two hours, Musetti found himself forced to make a comeback in just 24 minutes after suffering a harsh 6-0 defeat.
Carrara requested medical attention for discomfort in the upper area of his left leg. Alcaraz did not lose focus and continued without giving any concessions to break quickly and go up 2-0 in the fourth set, at which point the Italian decided to throw in the towel and give a free pass to the Spanish player, who will try to maintain his perfect record in Grand Slam finals on Sunday to add the fifth of his career.
Sinner wat too much for “Nole”
Spanish will face Sinner in their first match in a ‘major’ final. The number one player advanced further than ever in Paris against a Djokovic pushed to the limit and unable to stop the Italian’s meteoric rise, who had already played in the final in Rome after a three-month suspension. The powerful and effective serve of the top seed set the bar high, and ‘Nole’, who fought without reward, temporarily said goodbye to the opportunity to win his 25th ‘Grand Slam’.
Sinner marked his territory in the first set, where he didn’t give Djokovic any break opportunities and the Serbian lost his serve in the fifth game. In the second set, the Belgrade native, with the confidence from his 100th title in Geneva and his great victory over Alexander Zverev in the previous round in Paris, took a step forward and recovered a break against him, but his moment was short-lived.
The number one player broke again and then set the score at 7-5. Following the unstoppable script of these two weeks at the French Open, the Italian sought a direct path to the final and, in a long tenth game, saved three set points. With his energy already low and morale greatly affected, Djokovic had to sign his surrender to the dominant player on the circuit, who gifted himself the 12th duel with Alcaraz, the last four going to the Spaniard, and the most impactful one.