Tennis-Alcaraz sees off ailing Musetti for return to French Open final
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 6, 2025 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in action during his semi final match against Italy's Lorenzo Musetti REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
PARIS (Reuters) -Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached back-to-back French Open finals after Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti retired with injury while trailing 4-6 7-6(3) 6-0 2-0 on Friday.
Alcaraz, who is attempting to become only the third man to retain his Roland Garros title this century after Rafa Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten, will face either world number one Jannik Sinner or 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final.
Musetti twice denied Alcaraz the chance to break in the opening nine games before the 23-year-old suddenly dialled up the intensity and snatched the opening set when his Spanish opponent produced errors in a poor service game.
A frustrated Alcaraz kicked his bench during the second set but finally found a way through Musetti's dogged defence to draw level after a tiebreak and then produced a dazzling display of power and precision to dish out a bagel in the third set.
Musetti, who appeared to be hampered by a left thigh issue midway through the third set, threw in the towel after two games in the fourth.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in ParisEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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