Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (R) speaks to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti after the latter withdrew due to an … More
Carlos Alcaraz will get to defend his French Open title.
The 22-year-old Spaniard and No. 2 seed advanced to Sunday’s final against No. 1 Jannik Sinner after he won his semifinal over No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-0, 2-0. Musetti retired early in the fourth set with an apparent upper leg injury after being broken five straight times.
Alcaraz will be seeking his second straight French Open title and his fifth career major title against Sinner, who has won 20 straight major matches after taking out 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic in a tough straight-sets encounter.
Alcaraz is 4-0 in major finals and 7-4 against Sinner, including the last four in a row.
The winner on Sunday will take home nearly $2.9 million, and the runner-up nearly $1.5 million.
“It means a lot,” Alcaraz told Mary Joe Fernandez on TNT. “I’m just really happy and proud about everything I’ve done during the two weeks here in Roland Garros.
“It’s not the way way I want to win any match. I just wish Lorenzo a speedy recovery. I hope to see his game pretty soon again. But being back-to-back in the final in Roland Garros is a great achievement, one step more to take and on Sunday I think it’s going to be a beautiful and a great day.”
Alcaraz leads Sinner 7-4 overall, 2-1 on clay.
Djokovic leads Alcaraz 5-3, 2-1 on clay, including the gold-medal match last summer in the Paris Olympics at Roland Garros.
Musetti, who lost to Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo final and the Rome semis, has now lost six straight to the Spaniard.
Musetti seized the first set thanks to multiple Alcaraz unforced errors and his own strong service games.
“He is definitely off his range,” Andre Agassi said on TNT after Alcaraz miss-hit a drop shot into the net while serving at 3-4 in the second.
Musetti held serve for 5-4 in the second in a game that lasted 14 points.
“He is on fire with his serve,” Jim Courier said of Musetti.
Alcaraz served for the second set at 6-5 in the second but Musetti broke him to force a tiebreak.
Alcaraz evened it at one set apiece by winning the second-set tiebreak with a forehand drop shot winner.
But after that, Musetti’s level fell off and Alcaraz won the next eight games before the Italian retired.
