Semi-final preview: Musetti vs Alcaraz

 - Alix Ramsay

Court Philippe-Chatrier, first match
Lorenzo Musetti (8) vs Carlos Alcaraz (2)

It is the mark of a true champion: the ability to win when they are playing badly. Of course, no one wants to play poorly but, then again, no one can be perfect all of the time.

So it was that Carlos Alcaraz promised himself last summer, after winning here, that he would always fight to find a way to win even if he was having a miserable day.

"We’re learning,” he said. “Ultimately, one of the things I’d also like to improve is my consistency, that’s obvious. We’re maintaining a high level for a long time, we’re learning to find solutions when things aren’t going well instead of getting angry and not thinking. It’s something we’ve been learning with time. I’m 22 years old, and it was also time to mature a little.”

If the world No.2 was difficult to beat before, particularly on clay and grass, now he would be an impossible foe. If he is playing well – that can be any opponent’s worst nightmare. And Alcaraz was playing well as he tore past Tommy Paul to reach the semi-finals. Every ball he touched flew inside the lines and beyond the American’s flailing racket.

The pressure has been on the Spaniard from the moment the draw was made. The good, the great and the merely opinionated all saw him as the favourite to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the second time and none doubted that he would reach the final. The view was that this was Alcaraz’s title to lose. Not that it appears to bother the man in question.

“I’ve always said that it’s in those moments of pressure that you can identify the great athletes,” he said, “the way they handle all of that makes the difference between a truly great athlete and a good one. I always tell myself in those moments that I have to give more, I have to give something extra, I have to go for it and be unafraid.”

He is wary of Lorenzo Musetti – he knows the Italian’s talents well enough – but his record against the world No.7 gives little cause for panic: played six, won five. And he has beaten Musetti twice on clay this year.

Musetti, for his part, is bringing his revamped serve to the match court – he believes it is now a real weapon – and a renewed confidence based on his world ranking. But this is best-of-five sets against the reigning champion, the man who has vowed to fight no matter what even if it does mean winning ugly.