Novak Djokovic of Serbia was in a perfect place on Friday after his much-awaited French Open semifinal clash against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain ended in abrupt fashion and left him with a record 23rd men's Grand Slam title within touching distance.

The highly anticipated contest between the world number one and the two-time Roland Garros champion was suddenly effectively over as Djokovic defeated Alcaraz 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

After two intense opening sets, Alcaraz began experiencing cramps, which impeded his movement on the court. It led to Djokovic cruising through the third and fourth sets to seal his place in Sunday's final.

"Obviously this was a big win today under the circumstances that were obviously a little bit strange, especially in the third and fourth. But a win is a win," Djokovic told a press conference after his 46th semifinal at a major.

Djokovic will face last year's runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway in the final. Ruud defeated Germany's Alexander Zverev in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, in the other men's singles semifinal on Friday.

Also on Friday, China's Wang Xinyu and Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei secured their berth in the women's doubles final after beating American-Australian pair Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Playing in their second event as a pair, Wang and Hsieh will face Canadian-American duo Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend in the title showdown on Sunday.

"We're in the final? Yes. That's amazing," Hsieh joked at the post-match press conference.

"I didn't expect we would reach this stage. We just wanted to go to the court, and we said to each other, just have fun and enjoy the game, and then we are here," Wang said.

For Wang, 21, this will be her first appearance in the final of a Grand Slam tournament, while Hsieh is already a four-time Grand Slam doubles champion, three from Wimbledon (2013, 2019, 2021) and one from the clay-court major (2014).

(With input from agencies)