Carlos Alcaraz claimed his sixth Masters 1000-krone and the first Monte-Caro title on Sunday and surpassed a fading Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Spanjolen weather out a fiery first set from Musetti, but the Italian’s right leg snapped in the third, which required treatment at 0-3.
Alcaraz, clinical as always, seized the moment and put it in 1 hour 54 minutes to climb to world # 2 on Monday when the ATP ranking is released.
Musetti, who said in the press that he is a slow starter after his semi-finals, flipped the script by starting as a man obsessed, breaking back after Alcaraz’s early pre-pass and dictating with seven winners to six errors in 3-6 open.
Alcaraz had lost the opening set in two of his matches this week before calculating things, and he did the same in the final. He earned better and changed his return position and dominated the set 6-1.
The third was difficult to watch because Musetti could not move and was non-competing. Everything Alcaraz needed to do was stay composed, and he did when he caught his virgin Monte Carlo -Krona with a preview in the open court with musetti completely out of shots.
A tough end to the week for Musetti, but he will meet a career high # 11 tomorrow, while Alcaraz is in the driver’s seat in the live ranking for the race to Turin.
Match statistics
| Lorenzo Musetti | Carlos Alcaraz | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | 10 | 30 |
| Unwavering errors | 29 | 32 |
| Ace | 3 | 3 |
| Double error | 1 | 3 |
| 1st Earn % | 63% (43/68) | 72% (56/78) |
| 1st serving points won | 49% (21/43) | 70% (39/56) |
| 2nd serving points won | 52% (13/25) | 50% (11/22) |
| Break Points saved | 25% (2/8) | 78% (7/9) |
| Service Games | 45% (5/11) | 82% (9/11) |
| 1st return score won | 30% (17/56) | 51% (22/43) |
| 2nd return points won | 50% (11/22) | 48% (12/25) |
| Break Points won | 22% (2/9) | 75% (6/8) |
| Return games | 18% (2/11) | 55% (6/11) |
| Service points | 50% (34/68) | 64% (50/78) |
| Return points | 36% (28/78) | 50% (34/68) |
| Net points | 50% (2/4) | 76% (13/17) |
| Total score | 42% (62/146) | 58% (84/146) |
| Match points saved | 0 | 0 |
| Max points in line | 8 | 7 |
| Total games | 32% (7/22) | 68% (15/22) |
| Max -game in line | 4 | 7 |
Highlights
Thoughts on the final
I had a feeling that today’s final would disappoint you, because I think one of the most energy-zapping things you can do right now on the tour is Beat Alex de Minaur. The guy gives you nothing, is one of the best returners per statistics and runs all day.
Musetti succeeded yesterday, and he has had some physical matches this week with it, so I thought Alcaraz would dominate physically.
The only way I saw Musetti win was a pre -disaster class from Carlos and Italian who stayed cool.
The first set indicated that the latter could happen when Musetti’s forehand popped, while Carlo’s fault, 13 unthreatened in the opener, was extremely sloppy.
But then the tide, at the second set, Carlos called in, his first serve percentage jumped to 78% (from 66%), and Musetti’s leg began to betray him.
From there it was ordinary sailing, and the 6-1 6-0 point line shows that things were not competitive. I think Musetti has even considered retiring, but he has taken a lot of stick when he retired against Djokovic when he down 0-4 in the fifth set at Roland Garros 2021 (and rightly IMO), so he probably decided to stand it out.
Was it something to learn from the final? Alcaraz is a beast, but the victory does not scream invincibility yet, and he still has a huge tendency to spray errors in general. If you play then vs sinners, you have problems.
But his ability to restore, solve problems on the go and recover after carelessly lost the opener is unmatched.
That’s not how I would have liked to win a match. When he thinks of Lorenzo, he has undergone a tough week, played long matches. I feel sorry for him. It is one of his best results, to end up like this is not easy. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he will be 100 percent soon. I’m really happy to win Monte-Carlo for the first time. It has been a really difficult week with many difficult situations. I’m proud of how I handled everything. It has been a difficult month for me, so coming here and seeing the hard work payable makes me happy. Alcaraz on his Monte Carlo victory.
What did you think of the final? Let me know in the comments.
