Carlos Alcaraz surged past an ailing Lorenzo Musetti to win the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco Sunday, reclaiming the world No. 2 ranking from Alexander Zverev in the process.
Musetti, who spent over four hours longer on court than Alcaraz en route to the final, stayed solid in the face of another cold first set from the Spaniard, who sprayed errors early as he had done throughout the tournament. But after the Italian won the first set 6-3, Alcaraz took over, first through his brilliance and then through focus as Musetti struggled with a muscular issue at the top of his right leg. Although he did not convert every break point he created, Alcaraz broke Musetti’s serve in every game that he created at least one opportunity to do so.
With the 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 win, Alcaraz takes his first Monte Carlo title, and his first ATP Masters 1,000 title (named for the ranking points awarded to the winner) since March 2024.
“It has been a really difficult win, with a lot of difficult situations, that I’m really proud of myself, how I dealt with everything,” Alcaraz said on court.
“It has been a really difficult month for me, outside, on the court … I was struggling stepping on the court and finding the good way, playing the matches, playing tennis. It has been really difficult to find the way to not think about everything, just to focus on the important things, to just try to follow the good path again,” he said.
After making 14 unforced errors in 9 games in the opening set, Alcaraz raced to 5-1, 40-0 in the second before again offering Musetti a lifeline with two mistakes that allowed the Italian to get back to 40-40 with a return winner. But after squandering three set points, he saved four break points and held his serve for the set. Musetti was never able to offer a serious challenge after that.
Alcaraz’s sixth ATP 1,000 title puts him back behind Jannik Sinner, his closest rival, in the tennis world rankings. Sinner, who is serving a three-month anti-doping ban, has not played a tournament since winning the Australian Open in January. Neither Alcaraz nor Zverev had been able to make a serious dent in his lead until now, but the Spaniard will still be 2,210 points behind Sinner when the rankings update April 14.
Sinner will return to the tour at the Italian Open in Rome in early May. Alcaraz’s next event is the ATP 500 Barcelona Open, which starts April 14.
(Photo: Valery Hache / APF via Getty Images)
