Carlos Alcaraz got his clay-court season off to a winning start by claiming his first title at the Monte Carlo-Masters.
The Spaniard had to come from behind to defeat Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in Sunday’s final, securing his sixth Masters 1000 victory and first since Indian Wells last year.
Musetti, who was bidding for the biggest win of his career, was hampered by a leg injury in the final set and finished the match despite struggling to move around the court.
For Alcaraz, the win sets him up perfectly for the weeks ahead as he prepares for his French Open title defense next month.
“A lot of people have really high expectations of me on having a really good clay season,” the four-time grand slam champion told reporters after the match. “Probably, they want me to win almost every tournament, so it’s kind of a bit difficult to deal with it, I guess.
“But one thing I learnt over the last month is I have to think about myself […] think about my people, my team, my family, my close friends, and no matter what happens on court, if I win, if I lose, I have to leave the court happy and proud with what I’ve done.”
Alcaraz can certainly be proud of his achievements in Monte-Carlo this past week and a half, coming from a set down on three occasions to lift the title.
He fell 3-1 behind in the first set against Musetti after miscuing a forehand, while the Italian hit seven winners to take an early lead in the match.
It didn’t take long, however, for Alcaraz to get back into the contest, breaking Musetti’s serve twice and wrapping up the second set inside an hour and 20 minutes of play.
The deciding set was even more one-sided with Musetti clearly struggling with an injury, even after getting treatment at 0-3 down. It meant that Alcaraz could breeze through the closing stages, hitting the winning forehand into an open court with Musetti unable to move freely.
“Hopefully, if everything goes well, I will be playing this tournament for the next 10, 15 years, so let’s see if I can get at least one more,” said the 21-year-old. “All I’m thinking about right now is just to enjoy this moment and let’s see in the future.”
Alcaraz, who suffered a surprise second-round exit against Belgium’s David Goffin at the Miami Open in his last tournament, jumps above Alexander Zverev to second in the world rankings.
Musetti rises from 16th to a career-high 11th in the rankings having defeated top-10 seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur on his way to the final.
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