Carlos Alcaraz avenged his loss to Lorenzo Musetti on the Tour last year with a clinical win over the Italian at the French Open on Sunday.
The world No.1 showed signs of nerves early on against Musetti before storming to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, victory in Paris. It is the second year in a row that Alcaraz has reached the last eight of the tournament and he has extended his winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments to 11 wins. In his latest performance, the Spaniard blasted 40 winners and broke his opponent seven times during the 128-minute match.
“I think I played at such a great level,” Alcaraz said during his on-court interview.
“I played really a complete match from the first ball until the last. I’m really happy to get through this round against Lorenzo.”
Initially, the top seed struggled to find his range on the Phillippe Chatrier Court as he hit six unforced errors in the first two games to fall behind 0-2 to Musetti. Despite the sluggish start, Alcaraz soon got his momentum going with the help of a five-game winning streak to establish his stronghold in the opening set despite some impressive shots from his opponent. After just over 40 minutes the Spaniard clinched the opener by firing a forehand winner.
A similar scenario occurred in the second frame with both players exchanging breaks before Alcaraz dominated the proceedings. At one point, Musetti’s frustration got the better of him as he fired a ball into the crowd out of temper whilst down 2-4. As a result of his actions, he was issued with a code violation for ball abuse. Meanwhile, Alcaraz powered his way to a two-set lead.
In pole position, Alcaraz cruised towards the finish line. He worked his way to his first match point before a Musetti forehand error secured him the victory. In his first four matches played at Roland Garros this year, the only player he has dropped a set to was Taro Daniel in the second round.
“I try not to think about being No.1 or the pressure. I try to put all of those thoughts outside of my mind. I try to just play tennis and enjoy it,” the world No.1 replied when asked about how he handles his nerves.
“To smile, to enjoy and trying to make impossible shots to make people watching that match enjoy it is all I think about when playing.” He added.
After his latest triumph, Alcaraz also paid tribute to his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero who has been mentoring him since he was a teenager. This year marks the 20th anniversary of when Ferrero won the French Open crowd in what was his first and only Grand Slam title as a player.
“He’s my friend, my coach and my (second) father as well. I learnt a lot from him since working with him,” he said. “We started (working together) when I was 15 years old with a lot of things to learn and improve. Thanks to him we started playing juniors, Futures, Challengers… every single category of tennis.”
“There are a lot of things to learn from him. For me, it is really important to improve off the court. I’m grateful to not only have him in tennis but outside of the sport.”
It is the fourth time the 21-year-old has reached the last eight of a Grand Slam tournament in nine he has played. His win-loss at major tournaments now stands at 27-7 and this season he has won 34 out of 37 matches played so far.
Awaiting Alcaraz in the last eight will be either 2021 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas or Austrian underdog Sebastian Ofner. He leads Tsitsipas 4-0 in their head-to-head but has never played Ofner on the Tour.
