The National Times - Alcaraz set for 'great' French Open final against Sinner after Musetti abandons

The Spaniard was leading 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-0, 2-0 after two hours and 25 minutes of play on Court Philippe Chatrier when eighth seed Musetti was forced to abandon with a thigh issue.

Second seed Alcaraz will defend his crown against world number one Sinner, after the Italian dashed Djokovic's latest tilt at a 25th Grand Slam with a straight-sets victory in Friday's second semi-final.

It will be the first time the pair meet in the final of a major.

"It's going to be a really great Sunday, I think, for the fans of tennis," the 22-year-old said.

"Jannik, he's the best tennis player right now. I mean, he's destroying every opponent through (to) the semi-final," he added of the three-time Grand Slam winner, who is yet to drop a set in the tournament.

When the dust settles on Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday, the past six Grand Slam titles will have been shared between the two new dominant forces of the men's game.

Alcaraz bested Sinner in five sets in the semi-final on his way to the title at Roland Garros in 2024, and he beat the 23-year-old last month in the Italian Open final as Sinner made his return from a three-month doping suspension.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz has emerged the victor in the last four meetings between the current top two-ranked players in the world, and leads their series 7-4 overall.

- 'Speedy recovery' -

With Musetti's forced retirement in Paris, Alcaraz moved into his second French Open showpiece match, and fifth major final overall.

He now leads the 23-year-old 6-1 in their head-to-head series, winning all three of their clay-court battles this season after victories in the final at Monte Carlo and semi-finals of the Italian Open.

Both players battled through an even opener, before Musetti pounced at 5-4 on Alcaraz's serve, setting up the break opportunity at the start of the game with a powerful crosscourt forehand winner to conclude a brutal baseline exchange.

The pair exchanged consecutive breaks early in the second set.

The Monte Carlo and Rome champion got ahead again in the 11th game, but Musetti immediately hit back to force a tie-break.

Alcaraz was not to be denied however as he dominated the breaker, eventually levelling the match at the third time of asking as Musetti netted a forehand on the run.

Now firmly in the ascendancy, Alcaraz pressed his advantage by racing through the third set in 22 minutes for the loss of just five points.

Musetti received a massage on his left thigh during the change-over while trailing 0-5 in the third frame, before signalling that he was unable to continue three games later.

"I felt at the beginning of the third (set) 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," explained Musetti.

It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise excellent clay-court season for the Carrara-native as he reached at least the semi-finals of the three Masters-level tournaments, as well as Roland Garros.

"It's not the way that I want to win, to make the final," said Alcaraz.

"The clay season for him has been unbelievable, the level he has reached is pretty high.

"I just wished him, you know, speedy recovery. I hope to see him soon, you know, on court again, enjoying his tennis again. He's gonna reach these rounds, and he's going to fight for finals and Grand Slam, I'm sure about it."

K.M.Thompson--TNT