French Open 2023: ‘Massively intimidating’ for rivals to watch ‘complete’ Carlos Alcaraz says Tim Henman

Eurosport expert Tim Henman believes it is “massively intimidating” for rivals of Carlos Alcaraz for the Spaniard to “look so complete at the age of 20”.

The Italian was expected to be a tricky opponent for Alcaraz having got the better of him in the final of the German Open last year. However, on this occasion, the top seed was simply too strong.

Alcaraz has taken the tennis world by storm since his emergence and entered Roland-Garros as the world No. 1 as he aims for his second Grand Slam title.

And Henman believes his form will be worrying to the rest of the players on tour.

“When you see him play on clay, he looks so comfortable, but then you remember his success on other surfaces,” said Henman.

“He really is maturing incredibly quickly, and is still only 20.

“That’s so exciting for us to watch his development, but it must be massively intimidating for his opponents and players watching him win and look so complete at the age of 20.

“It was a great performance. He destroyed Musetti after losing those opening two games.

“He has patterns that he works on with his coach, ingrained in good habits, but then he also plays with instinct, and that’s where he has a great feel for the game; a natural understanding of when to play the right shot at the right time.

“He’s got that flair and you’d never want to restrict that shot-making ability. That’s why it’s so exciting for him and for tennis to have someone like him at the top of the game.“

The Eurosport experts suggested Musetti was lacking in confidence and never believed he could beat Alcaraz.

“Musetti was up 2-0 in the first set, and Alcaraz didn’t play a good first service game, and we thought it wasn’t an ideal start, but then, it wasn’t a contest,” said Henman.

“Alcaraz was able to dictate whenever he wanted, and I don’t know whether Musetti really believed that he could win the match. There didn’t seem a massive amount of resistance from Musetti in the rallies; going to the drop shot way too early, not earning the right to use that tactic.

“As pleased as Alcaraz was to win, Musetti will be disappointed with his performance in such a big opportunity.”

Alize Lim was in agreement with Henman.

“It seems like Musetti was disappointed during the match because he had to face someone who was just unbeatable,” said Lim.

“Carlos is amazing because he can play it all; accelerating the rallies, taking the ball early, but he can also play deep and high. He can serve and volley, drop shot… it’s amazing.

“What strikes me is that [he doesn’t] get confused with all that. He makes a decision, going full [pelt] for it. I’m becoming [more and more] of a [fan of his].

“I think it was worse for Musetti that Alcaraz thinks that it’s hard to play against him, because then he raises the level so high, and his face was different from the other rounds, fist pumping every shot. He knew that and that’s why he raised his level so much, because he didn’t have a choice today.”

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