A good measure of what can be expected from Carlos Alcaraz at this Roland Garros was the ability to raise the range of his tennis and firmly impose himself on Lorenzo Musetti, 17th seed, who came with a well-earned predicament after his impeccable career in the tournament. The fight between the two young men clearly ended up favoring the number 1 in the world, much more done than any of his contemporaries.. The Spaniard returns to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where Alexander Zverev stopped him in 2022, after winning 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2, in two hours and eight minutes.

The Italian started well, before fading away as a result of the armed arm of his opponent, whom he had managed to reduce last summer in the ATP 250 final in Hamburg. When he began to play, after the two direct aces with which Alcaraz started the match, Musetti exhibited the conditions that had brought him to his second round of 16 of the tournament, after having to retire, exhausted, having had a two-set lead against Djokovic in 2021. Erratic, the Spanish felt the ball badly. I also felt the leap in quality on the other side of the network.

It didn't take long for Alcaraz to appear, who needed a match like this, the alternating current between the virulent blows and the chiseled touch for the left marks of the house. Musetti, who had only given up his serve three times in previous matches, gave it up twice in a row.

shared ovations

The public rubbed their hands and gave shared ovations. Alcaraz, 20 years old, and Musetti, 21, offered a show with all the signs of durability in the coming years. The Italian spends silk glove. Nor does it fall short when it comes to offering what the most exquisite palates value.. It is far from the sidereal height reached by its rival, but it is awaited as one of the assets of the revolution underway..

Lost by some excesses in the search for unsuspected corners of the field, Musetti assimilated that he was facing an impossible. Alcaraz's thirty-fourth victory in 2023, twenty-fourth on clay, was going to be a matter of time. The champion in Indian Wells, Madrid, Barcelona and Buenos Aires offered the full range of his skills and closed the second set in the same way that the match had started, with a direct kick.

There would be no return ticket for the man from Carrara, winner of the 2019 Australian Open, 2018 US Open finalist and number 1 in the category, who found himself with a winning serve and a forehand serve and volley in the two attempts to break and go 2-0 in the third set. In the same instance where two years ago he stayed on the shore in front of Djokovic, this time Alcaraz put an entire ocean in between.

“I played at a high level, with high quality shots, very aggressive, a very complete game”, he commented on the pitch. “I am one of the main favorites to win the title, but I try to put all that out of my head, smile and have fun, go for impossible shots and make people enjoy themselves.”