French Open: Novak Djokovic Beats Injured Carlos Alcaraz To Reach Final

 

Novak Djokovic is through to the Roland Garros final for the seventh time after he defeated top seeded player, Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. 

Alcaraz losing the match could be blamed on a knee injury he suffered earlier into the third set. He had just denied the Serbian a tie-break to win the second set for a set win apiece for both players. 

Nevertheless, Novak edged out the world number one in four-set 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 and earned his 34th appearance in a Grand Slam final. 

Alcaraz had dropped the opener to Djokovic as he was ravaged by multiple unforced errors before he regained his resilience in the second set and converted his second break point at 6-5 for a set point and denied the set going into a tie-break. 

The eventful moment struck in the second game of the third set after the Spaniard had taking the lead when he leapt for a forehand shot at 40/30 and landed wrongly on his right foot  - his right calf was affected. 

The rest of the match was dominated by Novak and he took a ease through the remaining two sets for the win. He will be in for his seventh French Open final on Sunday against Casper Ruud who defeated Alexander Zverev in three-set 6-3 6-4 6-0. 

Meanwhile, going into the game, Alcaraz had been in a sensational form and had only dropped a set in 16 previous sets. Having to play with an injury impeded his form against a much experienced opponent like Djokovic.