World number seven Lorenzo Musetti commented on his performance during the Roland Garros semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz. Musetti retired from the match with the score at 6/4, 6/7(3), 0/6, 0/2 in favor of Alcaraz.
“Honestly, I`m quite disappointed with how it ended, but overall, it was still a great match,” Musetti stated during his press conference. “We both started off very strong, hitting the ball exceptionally well. I had to perform at my highest level of the entire tournament just to keep pace with him. I felt I took a step forward in my game and was getting closer to his level.”
He continued, “I managed to maintain a high standard for two hours, and I`m really pleased about that. It`s a definite improvement, as my last couple of matches were a bit one-sided. Today, I had opportunities; I could have even gone up two sets to love. But of course, Carlos played wonderfully. He`s in fantastic shape.”
Musetti also elaborated on the difficulties of competing against Alcaraz.
“Right now, facing him is one of the toughest challenges in our sport. He`s incredibly aggressive, so you constantly have to be alert and ready. Physically, it`s not easy to compete against players like Carlos or Jannik [Sinner], especially when you have a one-handed backhand. I felt some physical issues towards the end, so it was certainly tough.”
“Even before stepping onto the court, I realized I would probably need to play the best match of my career. In many ways, I executed beautifully: I was at the necessary level physically, technically, and psychologically. I sometimes tried to be as proactive as possible, particularly on the return. And I served very well today. Those first two sets were very, very good.”
“Naturally, in the third set and the last two games, I simply couldn`t match his level due to physical problems. That`s disappointing,” he concluded.
Rupert Hartwell