Paris (EFE) Roland Garros final.
The winner of the last US Open will be measured for a place in the semifinals, which would be his first in Paris, against the winner of the match between the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, fifth in the world, and the Austrian Sebastian Ofner, coming from the previous phase .
Alcaraz achieved his eleventh consecutive victory in Grand Slam, where he has not lost since last year’s Wimbledon round of 16 against the Italian, Jannik Sinner, in another of those duels of the new generation.
“It was a difficult game due to the wind but also due to Lorenzo’s aggressiveness. I am very happy to have beaten such a tough opponent, ”said the Spaniard, who got his tenth victory at Roland Garros.
Alcaraz earned an ovation from the stands when he assured that what he is looking for in tennis is “to have fun and amuse the public, smile and try to do incredible things on the court.”
The Spaniard added his 34th victory in a year in which he has only lost three games, his 24th victory on clay where he only has two defeats.
Alcaraz, eficaz before Musetti
The winner of Madrid and Barcelona progresses in his game and against Musetti he left a complete performance, full of efficiency and variation that show that he is close to his best version.
There was no sign of the slump he had had in their two previous duels in the second set. He was a whirlwind who gripped a rival who had beaten him in the only professional duel between them, in the final in Hamburg last year.
Announced as one of the duels of the future, the match was a spectacle for the stands, although Musetti still has steps to take to get closer to the level of the Spaniard, who was the one who took the initiative in the match.
Except at the beginning, when it was placed 2-0, an adversity that enraged Alcaraz, who scored five games in a row and nine of the following ten, to win the first set against the Italian, the first that was left in the tournament, and leave the next one on track.
The verve of the two contenders continued, despite everything, leaving moments of great beauty and intensity, disputed from power to power, although Musetti found it difficult to keep up with the Spaniard.
Good evolution of Musetti but insufficient
The transalpine lacks weapons, an arsenal to disturb a tennis player of the stature of Alcaraz who has progressed at a dizzying rate since his last appointment in July of last year in Hamburg.
Musetti has progressed in recent months, his game has gained order and consistency, but it is still not wide enough to compete with an Alcaraz who, in the same period, has taken giant steps.
If the Italian had reached the round of 16 for the second time in his career, giving up his serve only twice, against rivals like the British Cameron Norrie, against the number 1 in the ranking he had real problems to keep it. He only won it five times.
The duel was losing in spectacularity, as the Italian was losing the seriousness and maturity that took him to the eighth.
Alcaraz did not slow down, eager to overcome the round as soon as possible, on the way to that semifinal that everyone is waiting for against Novak Djokovic, who also advanced to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. There is only one chapter left to experience the long-awaited summit.