Carlos Alcaraz vs Lorenzo Musetti Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Alcaraz to return to Roland Garros final

Alcaraz is bidding to become just the third man this century after Gustavo Kuerten and Rafael Nadal to successfully defend the French Open title and there's no reason the pre-tournament favourite should be discounted now. The Spaniard has more or less eased into the semi-finals, dropping just five games in a destructive performance in the quarters against Tommy Paul.

Alcaraz has won 20 of his 21 matches on clay this season and will obviously be confident of extending that record given his 5-1 H2H record over Musetti, who's advanced to his maiden Roland Garros semi-final and second slam semi overall. I backed Musetti to reach the semi-finals and he delivered - although he might count himself lucky to remain alive after he accidentally struck a linesperson with a ball - we've seen others be defaulted for similar offences. In any case, Musetti has extended his record of making at least the semi-finals of every clay tournament this European swing, but this is likely a step too far.

Musetti did manage to take a set off Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo final (before fading physically) and pushed the Spaniard to a tiebreak in Rome, so I believe the Italian can make this somewhat competitive. But, Alcaraz should ultimately prove too strong.

As mentioned, Alcaraz leads their tour-level H2H 5-1. Musetti won their first ever meeting in the 2022 Hamburg final, but Alcaraz has won the last five straight - including a 6-3 7-6 triumph in the Rome semis last month.

Alcaraz comes into this clash with a 35-5 record on the season and looking in a strong position to defend his French Open title, which he claimed by beating Alexander Zverev in five sets in last year's showpiece.

It wasn't an overly spectacular start to the season for Alcaraz, but as expected, he's raised his level considerably since transitioning onto the clay, winning 20 of his 21 matches on the surface, securing titles in Monte Carlo and Rome.

The only match Alcaraz lost was the Barcelona final to Holger Rune - and that was because he suffered an injury that forced his subsequent withdrawal from Madrid.

After dropping sets to the likes of Fabian Marozsan, Damir Dzumhur and Ben Shelton from the second round to the R16, Alcaraz produced a statement performance in the quarter-finals, completely dismantling Tommy Paul for the loss of just five games, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4.

Musetti is having an extremely fruitful season, winning 25 of his 32 matches, rising into the top 10 and breaking new ground in various ways.

The Italian was the only player to make at least the semi-finals at the three clay Masters 1000 lead-in events, reaching the final in Monte Carlo and the semis in both Madrid and Rome. Musetti went down to Alcaraz twice (Monte Carlo & Rome), while Jack Draper got the better of him in Madrid.

Entering Roland Garros with genuine ambitions of making another semi-final, Musetti has delivered with several impressive performances.

Indeed, Musetti secured his first top 10 win at a slam by beating Holger Rune in four sets in the R16 before overcoming Frances Tiafoe in four sets in the quarter-finals.

The 23-year-old now must continue to break new ground in order to advance to a first major final - Musetti is 5-21 against top five players and 0-5 against that group in the slams.