For two sets Friday at Roland-Garros, No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti gave No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz all he could handle on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but the reigning French Open champion eventually settled in to take a 2-1 set lead before Musetti retired with a leg injury early in the fourth set to send Alcaraz to another final (4-6, 7-6. 6-0, 2-0).
Early on, Musetti had the advantage after taking the first set, 6-4, as the Italian showed his class as he went toe-to-toe with the world No. 2. The two stayed on serve until Musetti finally got a late break and consolidated it to take the first set and an early lead in the match.
The two would go back-and-forth in the second set, with Alcaraz picking up an early break but Musetti getting it right back to keep things on serve in what had become a spectacular shot-making match.
After Alcaraz broke Musetti again late in the set, it looked like he might flip the script from the first, but Musetti immediately answered back to break Alcaraz and force a tiebreak. In that tiebreak, Alcaraz finally seemed to find his A-game, winning it 7-3 to even the match and take some positive momentum into the third.
There things started to get away from Musetti, as Alcaraz hit that gear that he and very few others have, steamrolling the Italian 6-0 to take a 2-1 set lead. Musetti was showing signs of discomfort late in that third set, grabbing at his inner thigh and receiving some treatment in the chair, and after Alcaraz opened a 2-0 lead in the fourth set, Musetti retired due to injury.
Alcaraz now moves on to the French Open final where he will look to defend his title from 2024. The Spaniard has never lost in a grand slam final, going 4-0 in his four previous appearances. If he can make it 5-0 on Sunday, he will join Roger Federer as the only men in the Open Era to win their first five major finals — Federer began his career winning his first seven grand slam finals.
He will await the results of the Jannik Sinner-Novak Djokovic showdown later this afternoon to find out who he will be facing in that final. If it is Sinner, it will guarantee that one of those two will win a title for the sixth consecutive grand slam tournament — with Sinner also a perfect 3-0 in major finals. Djokovic, meanwhile, is in pursuit of his 25th grand slam title.
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