Alcaraz enters French Open final after Musetti gives way

The Spaniard, who has never lost in the final of a Grand Slam, is now three sets away from a fifth major title

- Shahid Judge

MUMBAI: There is a switch in the Carlos Alcaraz arsenal that he seems to turn on at will. Just when you feel you have him beat, or you are at par with the world No. 2, he will turn on that switch and suddenly the afterburners ignite.

Suddenly there's a spring in his step and he's chasing down everything thrown at him. Suddenly he's serving bigger, hitting the ball harder. Suddenly, he's turned the match around.

On Friday, against the odds, Lorenzo Musetti looked the better of the two players in the early stages as he competed with Alcaraz in the semi-final of the French Open. The Italian won the opening set and refused to let the Spaniard surge ahead in the second. But Alcaraz managed to win the second-set tiebreaker. That was the cue for him to let loose.

Musetti could not hang on and was forced to retire early in the fourth set. A match that started with great promise was left incomplete, with Alcaraz going through 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-0, 2-0.

The Spaniard, all of 22 years and 20 days, is now the fourth youngest men's singles player to reach the final of a Grand Slam in four consecutive years in the Open Era, with only Mats Wilander, Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal being younger.