Carlos Alcaraz beats Lorenzo Musetti in three sets to win Monte Carlo Masters for first time in career - 'Not the way I wanted to win'
Updated 13/04/2025 at 16:26 GMT+1
Carlos Alcaraz won the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time with a three-set victory over Lorenzo Musetti, who struggled with an injury in the final set having made an impressive start to the match. It was a welcome win for Alcaraz, who had not made a Masters 1000 final for over a year prior to the tournament, and he admitted he had been "struggling" in the weeks prior.
Alcaraz comes from behind to beat injured Musetti and claim Monte Carlo Masters
Video credit: SNTV
Carlos Alcaraz came from a set down to beat Lorenzo Musetti 3-6 6-1 6-0 and win the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time.
The Spaniard stormed through the final two sets as Musetti struggled with an injury, a disappointing end to a memorable tournament for the Italian.
And Alcaraz admitted Musetti's injury took some of the shine off his victory.
"It's not the way I wanted to win a match," he said in his on-court interview. "Thinking about Lorenzo, he's been through a really tough week, really long and intense matches. I feel really sorry for him that it ended like this, it's not easy. Hopefully it's nothing serious and he's going to be 100% really soon.
"Really happy to have won Monte Carlo for the first time. Difficult win with a lot of difficult situations. I dealt with everything. It's been a difficult month for me, outside and on the court, but coming here and seeing the hard work paying off makes me really happy.
"I was struggling stepping on the court and playing tennis. It's been difficult to focus on the important things and follow the good path again."
Alcaraz made an immediate statement of intent, breaking Musetti's serve in the opening game and hitting a superb passing shot down the line for the decisive point.
The Spaniard initially looked confident, using the drop shot to great effect, but Musetti responded impressively. Alcaraz's first service game was long and hard-fought, but it was the Italian who eventually came out on top to instantly break back.
Musetti held more comfortably to take the lead, and then broke Alcaraz again to extend his lead. The latter suddenly looked out of sorts and was soon 4-1 down.
After a shaky start, Musetti was playing some excellent tennis. Alcaraz finally held serve and punched the air in relief, but his opponent had no intention of letting his lead slip, taking his next two service games and the first set 6-3, finishing it off in style with an exquisite drop shot.
Alcaraz needed to step up a level in the second set and he started well, winning the first two games and reacting with a roar to the crowd.
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The world No. 3 had raised his game after an uncharacteristically wayward first set. Musetti, meanwhile, saw his earlier momentum disappear as the more aggressive Alcaraz raced into a 5-0 lead, and won the set 6-1.
And the pattern of the match continued into the third set. Musetti, looking uncomfortable and flexing his left leg, was again broken on his first service game.
The Italian looked more and more inhibited as the set progressed, limping slightly and struggling to get across the court as he had earlier in the match. Alcaraz broke serve again to go 3-0 up and move closer to what now seemed an inevitable victory.
Musetti had some attention from his physio during the break but it was to no avail. A gruelling week had taken its toll, and Alcaraz eased to a first Masters 1000 title in over a year.
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