Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire from his French Open semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz early in the fourth set. The Italian had threatened an upset by storming into an early lead, but was unable to see out the match due to a thigh injury. After just two games in the fourth set, he threw in the towel to send Alcaraz into the final.

Musetti called for his trainer in the middle of the third set and received treatment on his upper left thigh. He tried to continue but struggled to move around the court with Alcaraz taking full advantage. The defending champion bagelled Musetti and made a fast start to the fourth set, winning the first two games before the match came to an abrupt end.

The two players exchanged a warm embrace at the net before Alcaraz showed his classy side by applauding Musetti as he left the court. It was not the way he would have wanted to win, with his opponent looking dejected as he trudged back to the locker room.

Alcaraz spoke highly of Musetti in his post-match interview, saying: "It's never great, you know, to win the match like this. Lorenzo is a great player. He has done an incredible clay season.

"He is one of the few players who achieved the semi-finals in all the biggest events. That's the incredible player he is and I wish him all the best, a quick recovery and I'm sure he will be enjoying his tennis again pretty soon.

"The first two sets were really, really tough. I had chances to break his serve but I couldn't make the most of it. He was playing great tennis. When I won the second set, it was a little bit of relief and in the third set I knew what I had to do.

"I just tried to be aggressive and not let him dominate the game and just be myself, so I was more calm. I could see more clearly and I was playing great tennis."

Musetti has enjoyed a brilliant clay season, winning 19 of his 23 matches on the surface and reaching the semi-finals at every Masters event. Alcaraz, meanwhile, will face either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic in the French Open final on Sunday.

Looking ahead to that match, he said: "I'm feeling great, feeling good. Obviously, it has been three intense weeks but I have another step to make. I am playing great tennis and I have a lot of confidence right now.

"I'm going to give everything on Sunday. As I said, I've been doing great things in this tournament and now it's time to give 100 per cent and go for the final on Sunday."