Photo credit: Antoine Couvercelle/ROLEX
Unpredictability and explosiveness are Carlos Alcaraz’s most dangerous weapons.
Today, Alcaraz applied his variety and physicality to power into his second straight Roland Garros final.
Rallying from one-set down, Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-0, 2-0, when Lorenzo Musetti retired from this semifinal with a left leg injury after two hours, 25 minutes.
“The first two sets was really tough,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview afterward. “I had chances to break his serve to be up in the match, but I couldn’t make the most of it. He was playing great tennis.
“When I won the second set I was feeling a little bit of relief. Then in the third set I knew what I had to do in the beginning, pushing him to the limit, try to be aggressive…being myself. I was more calm. I could see things more clear and I could play great tennis at the beginning of the third set.”
It is Alcaraz’s 13th straight Roland Garros victory, while the Rome champion extended his Tour-level winning streak to 12 matches after defeating No. 1 Jannik Sinner before his home fans in the Eternal City last month.
The top-seeded Sinner will face No. 2 Alcaraz in Sunday's final.
A red-hot Sinner scorched 44 winners and saved three set points in the third set fending off Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3) in three hours, 16 minutes to advance to his maiden Roland Garros final.
It's the first time since the 1984 French Open that both men's and women's singles finals feature No. 1 vs. No. 2 with Aryna Sabalenka meeting Coco Gauff in the women's title match tomorrow.
Court Philippe Chatrier fans stood as one and gave Djokovic a rousing send-off.
It was a touching tribute prompting Djokovic to drop his bag, tap his heart with his hand and wave to fans in appreciation. If this was adieu to Paris, then Djokovic went out like a warrior emptying his entire arsenal.
Asked afterward if this was in fact his final French Open match, Djokovic was uncertain.
"I mean, this could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know," Djokovic told the media in Pairs. "That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end.
"But if this was the farewell match of the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd."
The men's final features a clash of streaks: Sinner rides a 20-match major match winning streak into his third straight Grand Slam final as the Australian Open and US Open champion continues his hunt for the Sinner Slam: holding all four major championships simultaneously.
Riding a 4-0 record in major finals, Alcaraz aims to defend his Roland Garros and beat Sinner for the fifth time in a row. Alcaraz is 7-4 lifetime vs. Sinner.
Sunday's final is a rematch of a classic 2024 Roland Garros semifinals.
Unleashing all-court attack, Alcaraz fought into his maiden Roland Garros final with a 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 conquest of Sinner that spanned four hours, nine minutes.
After returning to the final today, Alcaraz expression sympathy for his wounded opponent.
“It’s not great, you know, that I win the match like this,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview afterward. “Lorenzo is a great player. He has done an incredible clay season. He’s one of the few players who achieved semifinals of all the big tournaments on clay. I think four players have done it before.
“I always wish him all the best, full recovery, and I am pretty sure we are going to enjoy his tennis pretty soon.”
One of the sport’s most stylish players, Musetti conjured magic for two sets today. After Alcaraz plowed through the second-set tiebreaker, the world No. 7 ran into both the champion’s jolting power and some stinging pain in his left leg.
The 23-year-old Italian was clearly laboring in his movement in the final few games as Alcaraz won 33 of the last 42 points. Musetti broke to force the second-set tiebreaker, but never won another game after that.
"I mean, really honestly sad and disappointed on how it ended, but still a great match so far," Musetti told the media in Paris. "But yeah, I felt at the beginning of the third when I was serving, I start to, start losing a little bit of strength on the left leg behind, and definitely was going worse and worse, so I decided to stop. I think was, you know, the right decision to make, even if it was not what I wanted.
"Tomorrow I will do exams, and I will of course see and evaluate the situation."
Musetti, who pulled the plug after building a two-set lead over Novak Djokovic in the 2021 fourth round, was grimacing before finally retiring. Top competitors never want to tap out of a major semifinal. Remember Musetti, who posted a 19-4 clay-court record, will be defending semifinal points at Wimbledon later this month and likely did not want to risk exacerbating the injury and jeopardizing his lawn season.
Jittery at the start today, Alcaraz couldn’t find his first serve, bungled some routine volleys and was missing his vaunted drop shot early. Once Alcaraz evened the match, he shifted into free-flow dominance mode and was a formidable force in running rallies after that.
Today’s semifinal followed a similar script to the Monte-Carlo final in April. In that Monte-Carlo match of supreme shotmakers, Alcaraz rolled through 12 of the final 13 games defeating Musetti 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 to capture his maiden Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters championship as the Italian was hobbled by a right hip issue that day.
The 22-year-old Spaniard improved to 33-2 on clay since May last year, including 18-1 in Paris, and is the fifth-youngest man to reach five Grand Slam finals in the Open Era.
Though it wasn’t raining when this semifinal began, the retractable roof over Court Philippe Chatrier was closed due to expected rain creating heavy conditions.
The eighth-seeded Musetti saved both break points he faced in the first set—one in the opening game and one holding for 4-3—and was driving returns down the line off the Spaniard’s second serve.
The Muse Man made his move in the 10th game. Musetti rocked a 100 mph forehand laser to start the game. Alcaraz, who was hitting his forehand bigger than the Italian to that point, sprayed a forehand then missed a backhand down the line to face double break point.
Dancing around his backhand, Alcaraz sailed a forehand long as Musetti scored the lone break of the set to snatch a one-set lead after 47 minutes.
It was the first time the defending champion, who permitted only five games punishing a gimpy Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals, dropped the opening set in this tournament. Alcaraz served only 41 percent and botched a few key volleys in the set.
The Italian had saved four of five break points when Alcaraz, with a fantastic full stretch forehand return, earned a sixth. Torching a forehand down the line, Alcaraz thumped a smash screaming “Vamos!” breaking for 6-5.
An outrageous sharp-angled Musetti backhand gave the Italian double break point. Musetti broke back to force the tiebreaker on an errant Alcaraz forehand.
If you thought Alcaraz might wilt under that pressure, then you probably haven’t watched his performance during this profound clay-court season.
The 22-year-old Spaniard is 0-8 lifetime when facing a two-set deficit so both men knew how vital the second-set breaker was to the ultimate outcome.
Drawing the mini break on the opening point empowered Alcaraz, who carved out a forehand drop shot that kissed the top of the tape, clung for a second, then dribbled over on the Italian’s side giving Alcaraz a 5-1 lead.
Musetti saved a couple of set points on serve, but Alcaraz hit a clever slice forehand approach to snatch the second-set tiebreaker after one hour, 52 minutes of play.
Afterward, Alcaraz said he could see the high-intensity rallies draining his opponent.
"I know that I bring a lot of intensity in the matches. I think I put some high speed on my shots during the whole match, that probably some other players are not used to play such a high speed or intensity," Alcaraz told the media in Paris. "So that makes me a lot of confidence in the Grand Slam that I'm thinking that I gonna come back if I lose one or two sets.
"And, yeah, as I said today, I try to push him to the limit. The first two sets was really difficult, intense, and I tried to make him run a lot during the third set just thinking a little bit in the future, as well. That's important and give me a lot of confidence."
Swinging freely at the start of the third set, Alcaraz lasered a 100 mph forehand strike for double break point. Alcaraz snapped off a smash breaking for a 2-0 third-set lead at the two hour, two-minute mark.
An entertaining Alcaraz accelerated through 13 of 15 points extending to a double-break 4-0 lead in the fourth set.
Wounded by the physicality of play, Musetti called for the trainer to massage his left leg after going down 0-5 in the third set.
That was brief reprieve as Alcaraz dispensed the bagel third set and then battered Musetti throwing down a love hold to start the fourth set.
A methodical Musetti was pacing slowly between points in clear pain. Musetti waved his Head racquet toward his box in a No Mas gesture.
"I have to say that he's really, really aggressive, so yeah, always have to stay there," Musetti said. "Of course physically with the one-handed backhand, it's not easy to manage to deal with, you know, some players like Carlos or Jannik or others.
"So of course physically for me it was really intense. At the end I was, you know, feeling these kind of problems. So definitely hard enough."
After Alcaraz slashed one final forehand winner down the line for a 2-0 fourth-set lead, Musetti trudged slowly to net to shake hands and retire.
Alcaraz, who has beaten Musetti six times in a row after dropping their maiden Tour-level meeting, led fans saluting the fallen Musetti with applause.
Now, Alcaraz will try to restore the roar in the final Sunday against either world No. 1 Sinner or Grand Slam king Djokovic.
“Right now, I just feel great,” Alcaraz said. “It’s been three intense weeks, but I just have one step to make. I’m feeling great, I’m feeling I’m playing great tennis, I have a lot of confidence right now….
"Right now it’s time to give everything, give 100 percent and go for the title on Sunday.”