Novak Djokovic moved to within one win of capturing a record 23rd major crown on Friday at Roland Garros, where he moved past an ailing Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

The 36-year-old Serbian came out firing in the generational battle on Court Philippe-Chatrier, pulling the 20-year-old Spaniard around with destructive and consistent groundstrokes to win the first set. Alcaraz and Djokovic went blow to blow, with both demonstrating exceptional agility and movement in a high-quality and engrossing opening first two sets.

After Alcaraz levelled the match, he started to cramp in the right calf at the start of the third set, and forfeited his service game at 1-1 so he could fast-forward to a changeover and be treated by an ATP physio. The Spaniard, who missed the Australian Open this year due to a leg injury, was unable to chase down shots and drive through the ball, with Djokovic moving back ahead. The third seed then soared through the fourth set against Alcaraz to advance after three hours and 23 minutes.

“First and foremost I have to say tough luck for Carlos,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “Obviously at this level the last thing you want is cramp and physical problems at the late stages of a Grand Slam. So I feel for him, I feel sorry. I hope he can recover and he can come back very soon.

“I told him at the net. He knows how young he is. He’s got plenty of time ahead of him, so he’s going to win this tournament I’m sure many many times. He’s an unbelievable player, an incredible competitor and a very nice guy, so he deserves all the applause and all the support.”

_{^{Photo Credit: Getty Images}}

Meeting for the first time this season, Alcaraz and Djokovic have waged a neck-and-neck battle in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2023, trading the top spot four times. Following his 26th win of the season, Djokovic will surpass Alcaraz and return to World No. 1 if he defeats Casper Ruud or Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.

The two-time Roland Garros champion Djokovic, who is into his 34th major championship match and seventh in his past eight majors, is the second-oldest finalist in tournament history (since 1925).

Sixteen years his junior, Alcaraz was the youngest man to advance to the semi-finals at Roland Garros since a then-20-year-old Djokovic did in 2007. The top seed captured his maiden major title at the US Open last year, but will not add to his tally in Paris after he struggled physically to stay with Djokovic during Friday’s semi-final.

“It’s tough. Obviously for him to not know whether he should retire [from] the match or finish the match the way he did,” Djokovic said. “Congratulations to him for his fighting spirit and hanging in all the way until the last point. Respect for that, great respect.

“I think we were both at the physical limit towards the end of the second set. I wasn’t feeling fresh at all. We went toe to toe. I think it was a quite even match, one-set-all, and then this thing happened with his cramp in the third game of the third set and from that moment onwards it was a different match. Obviously I just tried to stay focused, to stay present, and I saw that he was struggling, but I obviously didn’t want to think too much about what was going on the opposite side of the net. Again, respect for hm and I hope he comes back very quickly.”

_{^{Photo Credit: Getty Images}}

Set One, Djokovic 6-3

Djokovic was locked in from ball one in Friday’s encounter. He struck his groundstrokes through the court with depth, while he moved forward consistently, closing the net 13 times in the set to pressure Alcaraz. After breaking in the fourth game, the Serbian fended off three break points in a mammoth game at 4-2 as Alcaraz began to find rhythm from the baseline. The top seed then held serve to lead.

Set Two, Alcaraz 7-5

At 1-1 in the second set, Alcaraz demonstrated his all-court game to full effect. He showcased great speed and touch to chase down a Djokovic drop shot, before retrieving to the baseline to hit fire a squash like behind the body forehand winner, drawing applause from the Serbian.

Alcaraz started to dig in during the baseline exchanges, playing with high intensity as his power began to force Djokovic, who received a medical timeout in the set, to overhit. The 20-year-old made 68 per cent of first serves in the set and recovered from squandering three set points on Djokovic’s serve at 4-5, 0/40, breaking Djokovic’s serve at 6-5 to level.

Set Three, Djokovic 6-1

Alcaraz then began to cramp in the third set. Rather than continue and risk causing further damage to his leg, the 20-year-old opted to forfeit his service game at 1-1 in order to receive immediate treatment from the physio on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The 20-year-old continued but was unable to chase down shots, with the Serbian outlasting the Spaniard in the baseline exchanges to move back ahead.

Set Four, Djokovic 6-1

The Spaniard went for a toilet break at the end of the third set to try and find a second wind. He had two break points on Djokovic’s serve at the start of the set but was unable to take them and from there, the Serbian ruthlessly raced clear. He limited errors off the ground and forced the tiring Alcaraz, who was far from his physical best, around the court with his variety of spins to improve to 1-1 i their ATP Head2Head series.

Did You Know?
Djokovic now holds a 80-4 record when claiming the first set at Roland Garros, winning 35 in a row. His last loss after clinching the opener came in the 2015 final against Stan Wawrinka.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has accepted a wild card into the BOSS OPEN, an ATP 250 held in Stuttgart, the tournament announced on social media on Thursday. The grass-court event will be held from 12-18 June.

Coming to Stuttgart 🔜🌱@steftsitsipas #welcome #stefanostsitsipas #tsitsipas #tennis #atptour #atp #stuttgart #BOSSOPEN pic.twitter.com/eB9mfXbnV8

— BOSS OPEN (@boss__open) June 8, 2023

The Greek will be making his second appearance at the event, having advanced to the quarter-finals last year.

Tsitsipas is currently fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin following his quarter-final loss against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros. The 24-year-old went 8-3 on grass in 2022 and will be aiming for another good run on the surface this season to boost his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fifth consecutive season.

Jack Draper will miss the grass-court season due to a shoulder injury.

The British lefty was forced to retire from his first-round match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at Roland Garros last week and announced on social media on Thursday that he is set for a period out.

“It’s clear my shoulder is going to need time and rehab to get back to where it needs to be,” Draper wrote on Instagram. “My team and I have made the difficult decision to miss the grass court season this year. I guess in this sport there are so many ups and downs but this one is tough to take. The only thing for sure is that I will keep persevering. Thank you for all the support I get on here it means a lot…”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jack Draper (@jackdraper)

The 21-year-old Draper held a 5-3 record on grass last season, with his best result a run to the semi-finals in Eastbourne.

Editor’s note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es.

With a two-day break before facing Novak Djokovic on Friday in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, Carlos Alcaraz practised for 45 minutes with one eye on his clash with the Serbian, but mainly focusing on giving his body some oxygen after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals.

In the company of his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, the World No. 1 completed his training session and then spent almost half an hour signing autographs and taking photos with the fans that had turned out to watch him practise. Earlier, Ferrero spoke about the encounter with Djokovic.

“It’s very good that he’s looking forward to the match,” Ferrero said. “Often you can get nervous and try to put certain situations off because of the difficulties that may be entailed. Looking forward to it is positive. Over these two days he’ll try to relax, recover a bit and get to 100%. As always, he needs to be mentally fresh. Nothing more.”

That was exactly what Alcaraz did on Wednesday; rest, practise and disconnect in the afternoon, taking the opportunity to recover physically and mentally before taking on this huge challenge.

“Novak is one of the best of all time,” Ferrero reiterated. “Obviously he’s going to make a match of it. These types of players find solutions where others don’t. He will study the match, he knows how Carlos plays and he will come out with a tactic to compete. In terms of attitude, I don’t think he will give in at any point. Carlos’ speed is very, very good. If he can maintain that and dominate the match, he will have his chances to come out on top. Djokovic has shown a million times that he is capable of turning impossible matches around. We’re expecting an extremely tough match.”

Alcaraz and Djokovic have only crossed swords once before, at last year’s Mutua Madrid Open, where the Spaniard took the spoils after a third-set tiebreak.

“He’s improving every year”, said Ferrero. “Playing in these kinds of matches makes you mature very quickly. Every time a match like this comes along, he has to be unfazed and go for it. We’re happy to be able to have another experience against one of the best in history. Win or lose, I’m sure it will make him grow. It will be positive. Often, you learn more from the defeats than you do from victories.”

Without Rafael Nadal in the tournament, Djokovic is surely the biggest challenge anyone can face in Paris. The Serbian will be even more dangerous since he is bidding to become the player with the most major titles in history. He currently sits alongside Rafael Nadal, with 22 apiece.

“We’re doing very well on clay and he’s been doing very well for 20 years,” acknowledged Ferrero. “It’s not the time to pick a favourite. They’re both in great form. Novak is battling to make history and Carlos to reach his second Grand Slam final. They are different goals, but very important ones for both of them.

“Djokovic’s game has everything. He often grows into it, and by the end of the tournament he is playing very well. We’re expecting his A-game. We’ve seen so many times how well he can play when that’s the case,” said Ferrero, who is also aware of just how far Alcaraz can go.

“I’ve been with him for five years and I know how good he can be,” explained the No. 1’s coach. “The most impressive thing is that he produces that level at the most important times and against the best. He’s progressed very quickly. He’s ready to do great things in tennis. Carlos dreams big and believes he can beat anyone. It’s clear that he believes in himself.

”We have to have great belief in him, but getting ahead of ourselves is a mistake for everyone. We will believe in the real possibility of winning if he gets to the final, before then is too soon.”