Carlos Alcaraz captured his sixth ATP Masters 1000 title and first in 13 months on Sunday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he overcame a physically hampered Lorenzo Musetti.
The 21-year-old Spaniard delivered a composed performance and benefited from Musetti’s clear physical issues in the third set to triumph 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in front of a packed Court Rainier III crowd.
”It is not the way I would have wanted to win a match,” Alcaraz said. “Thinking about Lorenzo, he has been through a tough week, played long matches. I feel sorry for him. It is one of his best results, ending up like this is not easy. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he will be 100 per cent soon.”
Alcaraz arrived in Monte-Carlo off the back of a shock second-round exit in Miami. Back on clay, the 21-year-old rediscovered his groove with gritty three-set wins over Francisco Cerundolo and Arthur Fils, plus straight-sets victories against Daniel Altmaier and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
”I am really happy to win Monte-Carlo for the first time. It has been a really difficult week with a lot of difficult situations,” Alcaraz said. “I am proud with how I dealt with everything. It has been a difficult month for me, so coming here and seeing the hard work pay off makes me happy.”
Competing against 23-year-old Musetti in the second Masters 1000 final of the season between two players born in the 2000s, Alcaraz leaned on his big-match experience. Having triumphed at Roland Garros and earned silver at the Paris Olympics on clay last year, the Spaniard stayed composed in chilly, slow conditions to earn his third Masters 1000 title on clay (Madrid ’22, ’23).
© Copyrights Sixsports. All Rights Reserved.
