Novak Djokovic reaches his seventh French Open final with a four-set victory over Carlos Alcaraz, the world No. 1 struggling with injury towards the end of his defeat
Novak Djokovic is on the brink of his 23rd Grand Slam title after Carlos Alcaraz wilted in the face of the immense Grand Slam challenge he presents.
The 20-year-old Spaniard succumbed 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 in their highly anticipated French Open semi-final after a severe bout of cramp early in the third set robbed him of his ability to compete properly.
Djokovic was waiting for the winner of the second match between Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud and will certainly be the favorite on Sunday.
It was a sad end to a game that had so far lived up to its billing, at least in terms of a few sensational points played.
Ultimately, this will have been brought about both by the physical nature of the game and by the mental pressure Alcaraz felt, especially after an up and down second set. At the beginning of April, at the Miami Open, he also suffered from cramps in the semi-finals.
Novak Djokovic is on the verge of his 23rd Grand Slam title after beating Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz fought well in the first two sets, but succumbed to cramps
His time will come, but for now Djokovic remains the supreme fighter, who understands so well the rhythms and demands of a best-of-five-set match.
Djokovic then said: “I have to say bad luck for Carolos at this level, the last thing you want is friends with physical problems, I feel for him and hope he can recover.” I told him at net that he knows how young he is and I’m sure he’s going to win this title many times. It’s hard for him not to know if he should finish the match, congratulations to him for holding on until the last point.
“We were both at the physical limit towards the end of the second set. It was a fairly equal game, from then on it was a different game. I saw he was struggling but I didn’t want to think about the other side of the net. It’s not easy to maintain the intensity of the match. I am incredibly proud to reach another final.
The players experienced another hot, sunny and windy day at Roland Garros in front of a crowded Court Philippe Chatrier full of expectations.
Alcaraz looked pissed off in the first set and Djokovic broke for 3-1 with the Spaniard in trouble when he betrayed his first nerves, inexplicably taking the wrong option when he had his opponent blocked at the net and allowing him to enter the game at 30-15.
He created three break points to come back, but got tight on all of them, his drop shots not quite having their usual accuracy under pressure. The Serb was already showing that he was the ultimate match player and benefited from being hard on his opponent’s forehand and pushing them wide.
Alcaraz mixed some brilliant shots with his errors, and produced one of the biggest individual winners of recent years in the fourth game of the second set.
Djokovic hit what looked like a volley winner with the Spaniard at the net, but somehow he got past him and rushed to swing around and hit a forehand pass.
World No. 1 was playing bright points with only sparse errors against Djokovic
The Serbian (right) reached his seventh final at Roland Garros almost by default in the final set
Soon after, the Serb received treatment around his right forearm and wrist area, and Alcaraz seized the moment. Amid moments of pure brilliance and a few unfathomable errors, breaks of serve were exchanged. Alcaraz ended up leveling the match when he broke up with love and had to wait for Djokovic to take a bathroom break to change clothes.
Then came the cramps, after two hours and 28 minutes of grueling bouts, and after a period when it looked like Alcaraz was trying to cut points. At the end of the second game of the third set, his right calf seized up as he tried to return a serve into the body.
He required immediate treatment and, as the rules dictate, had to forfeit a match as he was considered a real cramp by the physio. His arm also seemed to stiffen. The crowd predictably booed when the scoreboard confirmed the rare occurrence, but it was ultimately a loss of fitness, brought on by the size of the occasion.
From there the set became a procession and within twenty minutes Djokovic was two sets down. Alcaraz went for a toilet break and after returning he forced a break point, but that was as good as it gets.
