Mats Wilander thinks Carlos Alcaraz was ‘surprised’ by what Lorenzo Musetti did against him in Roland Garros semi-final

Lorenzo Musetti saw his French Open hopes go up in smoke as Carlos Alcaraz prevailed during the first semi-final.

The Italian has Alcaraz sweating in a panic for the best part of two sets, taking the first win 6-4 and narrowly losing the second after a tie breaker.

It’s impossible to keep Alcaraz down, however, and he took his game to another level in the third set, running out 6-0 in just over 20 minutes.

After receiving treatment out on the court on two occasions, the retirement came at the start of the fourth after Alcaraz had taken two games.

It was a bitterly disappointing end to a brilliant tournament for Musetti, but he can take heart from how he troubled Alcaraz during the first two sets.

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Mats Wilander thinks Carlos Alcaraz was shocked by Lorenzo Musetti

After taking the opening set and continuing his fine shot-making in the second, Musetti might have felt like this was his chance at the French Open.

However, his body couldn’t withstand the nature of the comeback from Alcaraz and he was forced into submission in the fourth set.

Wilander admitted that he thought Alcaraz was left surprised by Musetti and that’s why he struggled during the opening exchanges.

He told TNT Sports: “I do think today that he was a little bit loose. Maybe he was surprised by the level of Lorenzo Musetti. I was surprised by the level of Lorenzo Musetti. He thought he would be able to break down that one-handed backhand, and he wasn’t able to do that early on.

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“But he is unbelievable when you see the gets that he gets, especially off the forehand side when he slides and comes up with the squash shot that is unbelievable. He is running faster than the ball, and I don’t know how fast the ball is travelling, but he is running faster. It’s amazing.”

Tim Henman also shared a similar view and added to the comments from Wilander.

He explained: “His athletic ability is one of the other reasons why Alcaraz is so difficult to play against. He not only has the shots, but he is able to really run down the ball and certainly hit it.”

Carlos Alcaraz achieves brilliance after French Open semi-final win

After beating Musetti to the punch in this one, Alcaraz is only 22, and he’s now the fourth youngest player in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam final in four consecutive years.

Wilander himself remains the youngest to do it, with Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal now the only players above Alcaraz on the list.

It’s getting to the point where superlatives used to describe Alcaraz are quickly running out and it’s scary just how much he could win if he stays fit and fresh.

Neither Jannik Sinner nor Novak Djokovic will fancy coming up against the Spaniard, but a stunning final does look to be on the cards on Sunday.

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