, the Spanish tennis superstar, who is 22 years of age, reached the final of the French Open after eighth seed Italian Lorenzo Musetti retired midway in the fourth set due to an injury at the Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris.
The defending champion was leading 4-6, 7-6(7-3), 6-0, 2-0 when Lorenzo Musetti, 23, was forced to give up the semi-final, missing out on the opportunity to make the Grand Slam final for the first-time in his tennis career.
In the first set, it was quite a pulsating battle between two of the brightest young talents in the world of professional tennis, but it went the way of Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 after he broke the serve of Carlos Alcaraz, who was looking to stay in the fight. The second set saw some of the best tennis in the men’s singles event at the Roland Garros this year with Alcaraz breaking the serve twice of his Italian opponent, only for Musetti to return the favour in the next game itself.
It is never great getting through winning the match like this. Lorenzo is a great player: Alcaraz
The second set tie-breaker saw the tide of the match turn in the favour of Carlos Alcaraz, who managed to take it 7-3 and roared back into the contest in his indomitable style. What followed was a complete domination from the defending champion, breaking the serve of Lorenzo Musetti with ease to win the third set without dropping a game before the Italian had to retire from the match due to injury at the start of the fourth set.
After a warm embrace between the players, Carlos Alcaraz applauded Lorenzo Musetti off court with the thousands in attendance at the Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris. In his post-match interview, Alcaraz was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, ‘It is never great getting through winning the match like this. Lorenzo is a great player. He has done an incredible clay season. He’s one of the few players who has achieved semi-finals. I wish him all the best and a quick recovery.’
The Spaniard also spoke at length about how the French Open semi-final unfolded, and said, ‘The first two sets were really tough. I had chances to break his serve in the match and I couldn’t make the most of it. He was playing great tennis. When I won the second set there was relief. In the third set, I knew what I had to do in the beginning – pushing him to the limit and trying to be aggressive. I was more calm and I could see this more clear and I could play great tennis.’