French Open 2025: John McEnroe hails Carlos Alcaraz as most complete player ever as defending champion books Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic showdown

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TNT Sports expert John McEnroe remarked that he had "never seen a player as complete" as Carlos Alcaraz after the world No. 2 booked his place in the French Open final. The defending champion beat Lorenzo Musetti in four sets on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with the Italian eighth seed retiring in the due to injury. Alcaraz had bagelled him in the third set and was 2-0 up in the fourth at the time.

Alcaraz 'most complete' player in history - McEnroe ahead of French Open final

Video credit: TNT Sports

TNT Sports expert John McEnroe said that he had "never seen a player as complete" as Carlos Alcaraz after the Spaniard moved into the French Open final.

Alcaraz, the defending champion at Roland-Garros, booked his place in Sunday’s showpiece with victory over Lorenzo Musetti, who retired with an injury in the fourth set.

Musetti, the eighth seed, had taken a shock first-set lead, going up 6-4 and threatening a two-set advantage in the second, before surrendering in the resulting tie-break.

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Alcaraz, now acclimatised and relaxed into his rhythm, then roared through the third, bagelling the Italian, who offered his hand at 2-0 down in the fourth.

The world No. 2 will now face either top seed Jannik Sinner or 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic this weekend as he aims to retain his title in Paris.

McEnroe, a one-time finalist at Roland-Garros in his playing career, lauded the fact that Alcaraz could "do everything" with a tennis racquet.

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"Of all the players I’ve ever watched, that includes Novak, Roger [Federer], and Rafa [Nadal]. Rod Laver is my idol - but they are the three greatest players that ever lived. [Pete] Sampras would be the next after Laver - I’ve never seen a player as complete as he can do everything, at his age, with a smile on his face most of the time," McEnroe said.

"It’s really remarkable that he has so many options. When he gets in trouble, he can hit his way out, but can also hit his way into trouble. A little bit of that was going on early in the match, but he rode that out and played a great tie-breaker.

"Then his energy level went up, and Musetti’s dropped down. He steamrolled him and looks mighty tough to beat."

McEnroe praised Alcaraz’s composure when he was down a set, but did note that the Spaniard was slightly "overplaying".

"How do you keep yourself composed when things aren’t going as great as you expect them to? When the blood was boiling, he had a fair amount of chances to take the lead in the first set and didn’t capitalise.

"But he kept pretty positive all things considered, he didn't blow up when he lost his serve late in the second set either. He’s maturing in a beautiful way and is a true credit to our sport.

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"He’s overplaying a little bit. I only wish I could hit a ball that big. There’s times where he has too many options. What I’ve noticed with these players recently, is that generally, players in the past would pull it back and play it safer. The guy can’t go at 100%, so I’ll beat him that way.

"These guys go for bigger shots that you have to explode after faster. That can cause even more problems if someone is partially injured, because you have to make that incredibly fast first or second step. That can break guys down, as Alcaraz has done in the last two matches."

Looking ahead to who could potentially usurp him, McEnroe believes that only two men are capable of doing so on the Parisian dirt.

"The only two guys that you think could possibly beat him are playing [next]," McEnroe continued.

"It’s crazy enough that, at 36, Djokovic won this as the oldest guy. Now he’s trying to do it two years later against these two guys that are turning into legends of their own. If there’s someone that can do anything to Carlos, it has to be those two."

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