This week, Musetti has been much more efficient. He hasn’t dropped a set in four matches, and he has looked like the physically stronger player in his wins over Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvdev, two Top 10 perennials. The slow clay and the chanting home crowds suit him, and so do the slow balls—at least according to Zverev during the German's curse-filled rant about them on Wednesday.
Fresh or not, at home or not, Musetti will still be the underdog against Alcaraz. The two have played five times and Alcaraz has won four of those contests, including the last two on clay. More important, perhaps, Alcaraz appears to be confident, in form, and motivated by the chance to assert his superiority against his rivals with Roland Garros around the corner. For him, though, the best way to do that is to pretend like the result doesn’t matter and Paris doesn’t exist.
“I was just trying to go there and play, trying to enjoy playing that match, not thinking about the results at all,” Alcaraz said after beating one of his new rivals, Jack Draper, 6-4, 6-4. “I just tried to do the shots in the game that I like playing, that I like to do. Try to smile, have joy on the court.”
“I think it works pretty well.”
