Roland Garros: Musetti retires, Alcaraz in the final

A bitter epilogue for Lorenzo Musetti in his first semi-final at Roland Garros: the Italian had to retire with a left leg problem at the start of the fourth set, trailing 2-0, after winning the first 6-4 and losing the second and third set 7-6, 6-0. Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, is in the final and awaits the winner between Jannik Sinner and Nole Djokovic.

The player from Carrara, back from an exciting month with the final won in Monte Carlo, the semi-finals reached in Madrid and Rome (where he had lost to Alcaraz), left the court almost in tears, with the Spaniard immediately having a thought for him in the interview at the end of the match. "To win like this is not pleasant. Musetti has had a fantastic season on clay, one of the few in the last 30 years to have reached the semi-finals in all the important tournaments. I wish him all the best and may he return to play as quickly as possible."

In fact, the start had been propitious, Lorenzo had exploited Alcaraz's inconstancy, defused two break points against him and maintained an aggressive game, breaking him at 5-4; even in the second set lost only at the tiebreak (where the Spaniard raised the level, as he often does) he played on equal terms with the Murcia champion.

Then the third one opened with Carlos immediately taking off, relieved and calmer, until, visibly, the Italian slowed down and the withdrawal was inevitable.

The great tournament played by Musetti, who starts next week as world number 6, remains. Just as exciting is the path of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, who will play the final of the women's doubles: they dominated against the Russians Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider (also defeated in the match for Olympic gold in Paris) with a dry 6-0, 6-1. The Italian women will face Kazakhstan's Anna Kalinina and Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic (who in the other semi-final won 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 against Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway and Eri Hozumi of Japan) for the title.