Carlos Alcaraz gathered for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory on Sunday against a sick Lorenzo Musetti to win the Rolex Monte-Caro champion in Monaco.
The second-seeded Spaniard claimed its sixth ATP Masters 1000 title and only since Indian Wells in March 2024. It was the 18th Caregar title for the four-time Grand Slam winner, which turns 22 next month.
Musetti, who played in his first Masters 1000 final, struggled with an obvious injury to his right leg in the third set in a match that lasted for an hour and 54 minutes. The 23-year-old Italian, as seed 13th, received treatment after losing the first three games in the decisive set.
“It’s not how I would have liked to win a match,” Alcaraz said. “Thinking of Lorenzo, he has gone through a tough week, played long matches. I feel sorry for him. It is one of his best results, which ends as this is not easy. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he will be 100 percent soon.”
Musetti succeeded only 10 winners – seven in the first set – compared to 30 for Alcaraz, who converted six of eight break chances and saved seven out of nine break points.
It was the third Masters 1000 title on Clay for Alcaraz, the reigning French Open master who also won in Madrid 2022 and 2023.
Alcaraz, who also went three sets in the second round (Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo) and the quarter finals (France’s Arthur Fils), dropped the first set to Musetti in 42 minutes after committing 14 of his 32 unthreated errors in the match.
“I’m really happy to win Monte-Carlo for the first time,” Alcaraz said. “It has been a really difficult week with many difficult situations. I am proud of how I handled everything. It has been a difficult month for me, so coming here and seeing the hard work Lönas makes me happy.”
Alcaraz, who will rise a place to No. 2 in the world rankings after his performance this week, improved to 4-1 in his head-to-head series with Musetti.
It was an annoying finish for a strong week for Musetti, which received top-10 victories against Greece’s Stefano’s Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals and Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals.
The start time for the match was moved up three hours due to the threat of rain in the Principality.
-Field level media
