Shortly after reaching the SF at the 2025 French Open by defeating America’s Frances Tiafoe in a four-set thriller, Lorenzo Musetti replicated Andy Murray’s iconic celebration by flexing his muscles. We’ve seen that celebration plenty of times from the British pro, but watching Musetti do it was a change. Revealing the reason behind that unique celebration, he had then said, “I wanted to show that I’ve worked really hard on my condition.” Later on, Musetti also talked about the secret to his recent success. He said, “Last year I became a father. I think that gave me an extra responsibility, and I now approach things in a more professional way, not just on the court in matches but in my daily routine.”

Seeing his incredible run at Roland Garros, the Italian fans were hoping to see him and Jannik Sinner take on each other in an epic final at the Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday. Interestingly, Musetti even started the SF match against Carlos Alcaraz on a positive note, securing the first set by 6-4, but… As per the latest reports, Lorenzo Musetti has now been forced to give a walkover to Carlos Alcaraz due to an injury in this epic SF clash. He suffered an injury to his left thigh during the middle of the third set. The Italian was even spotted calling the physio to receive treatment for his injured leg.

Speaking about it, Musetti said, “I’m really sad and disappointed how it ended, but still a great match. I felt at the beginning of the third when I was serving, I started losing a little bit of strength on the left leg behind, and definitely was going worse and worse, so I decided to stop.” 

His injury concerns were reflected in his performance in that set. But eventually, he threw in the towel after playing just two games in the fourth set. The score was 4-6,7-6(3),6-0,2-0 in favor of Carlitos, when the Italian decided to call it off. With this win, Carlos Alcaraz has now taken his H2H record to 7-1 against the Italian. Despite this setback, there is plenty to gain for Musetti from this tournament. He became the third Italian player in the Open Era to reach the SF on multiple surfaces at Grand Slam events after Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner. Seeing his incredible run in this tournament, even the Aussie star, Nick Kyrgios, had recently showered praise on him. What did he say?

Lorenzo Musetti is currently ranked 7th in the world, and he had previously reached the final in Monte Carlo before making two SF runs in Madrid and Rome. Overall, Musetti was in red-hot form on clay this season! Seeing his incredible performances throughout this phase, Kyrgios said, “Obviously, Sinner and Alcaraz are already there. Do you know who I have been really surprised with? It’s Musetti. Musetti has been really solid for the last year and a half, he has really impressed me. He is good on hard, clay, grass. He is fun to watch. Musetti is probably one of my favorite players right now to watch aesthetically. He has a beautiful slice. It’s fun to watch the way he crafts, he works for his points. I like watching him a lot.” What was Carlos Alcaraz’s reaction after seeing this unfortunate ending to this SF clash?

Carlos Alcaraz on Lorenzo Musetti’s withdrawal

Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti have an enormous respect for each other’s games. For example, a few months back, while sharing his thoughts about the Spaniard, Musetti said, “Carlos is already a legend of this sport, despite being younger than me. He’s a record-breaking guy, and on the court, you feel like he has a kind of aura, so to speak.”

Now, with this win, Carlos Alcaraz has not only got one step closer to retaining his title here, but also become the fifth youngest player to reach five Grand Slam finals in the Open Era, and the third active player to achieve that feat after Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. However, keeping the milestones aside, the fans witnessed a beautiful gesture from the Spaniard after this match.

Alcaraz was seen applauding Lorenzo Musetti off the court after he retired from this match and asking the crowd to cheer up the Italian. During the post-match interview, Carlos Alcaraz said, “It’s never great getting through or winning a match like this. Lorenzo is a great player. He has had an incredible clay season. [He is] one of the few players who achieved at least the semi-finals at all the biggest events on clay. I think just four players had done that before… I always wish him all the best, a quick recovery, and hopefully, we are going to enjoy his tennis pretty soon.“

Carlos Alcaraz now holds a 33-2 record on clay since last May, including 18-1 at Roland Garros. Can he now extend his perfect 4-0 record at the Grand Slam finals? He’s all set to take on either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic in the final, and guess what? Alcaraz says he’s not going to miss seeing them take on each other at Philippe-Chatrier. “This match is one of the best matchups we have in tennis right now. Sinner against Djokovic, it’s going to be great tennis. As a huge fan of tennis I’m going to watch it, I’m going to enjoy it. Obviously, I’m going to take tactics from that match, but I think we are all going to enjoy that match because they are going to play great tennis.” Do you think Carlos Alcaraz can retain his crown this year at Roland Garros?