Carlos Alcaraz comes from behind to claim maiden Monte Carlo title
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Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrating after his 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 Monte-Carlo Masters final win over Italy's Lorenzo Musetti at Monte-Carlo Country Club.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MONTE CARLO – Carlos Alcaraz won his first Monte Carlo Masters title on April 13 with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, adding that it capped “a really difficult month for me on the court and outside”.
It marks a sixth Masters title for the 21-year-old Spaniard, a four-time Grand Slam winner, and his most prestigious title since winning Wimbledon in 2024.
“I’m just really happy to have won Monte Carlo for the first time,” said Alcaraz, who lost in his first match on his only previous appearance at the Monaco tournament in 2022.
“It’s been a really difficult week with a lot of difficult situations. I’m really proud of myself, how I’ve dealt with everything. It’s been a really difficult month for me on the court and outside.
“Coming here and seeing how the whole hard work has paid off, I’m really happy,” he added, without elaborating on the problems he faced.
Alcaraz, who will move up a place in the world rankings and displace Germany’s Alexander Zverev at No. 2, had to come from behind to beat the Italian, who had already taken down two top-10 players, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur, on his way to his first Masters 1000 final.
On a grey afternoon on Court Rainier III overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Alcaraz initially appeared out of sorts.
Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in action during his final match against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on April 13.
REUTERS
Musetti dropped his opening service but then fought his way back into the first set as Alcaraz struggled.
The Spaniard bounced back, however, lifting his game as he galloped through the second set 6-1.
That trend continued as Musetti began to have problems with his right leg, receiving treatment when he was down 0-3 in the decider. He battled on but could not live with the intensity of Alcaraz’s game.
“Lorenzo’s been through a really tough week, long and intense matches,” said Alcaraz. “I feel sorry for him, one of the best results he has done, to end like this is not easy. Hopefully it’s not serious and he’s 100 per cent soon.”
Some consolation for Musetti is a rise to 11th in the world rankings and the promise of more to come on clay as the season builds towards the French Open at Roland Garros in May.
“It was probably one of my best tournaments so far,” he said.
“I’m disappointed I couldn’t finish the match in the best way, for the crowd. You deserve it, so I will keep going and try and come back for revenge.”
Off the court, the director of the tournament said on April 13 there are “no concrete plans” to start a women’s event but admitted it could happen in the future.
The tournament, which dates back to 1896, is just one of two Masters 1000 tournaments, alongside the Paris Masters in the autumn, that are not running a women’s competition.
“I wouldn’t rule out anything in the future,” David Massey told reporters.
“We obviously remain open to the idea of welcoming the WTA to our tournament.
“There’s no pressure (from the WTA), nor are we saying that we’ll never do that either. It’s just not an action item at this point.”
Massey said an expansion of the current set-up would “require us to have more days for the event” which currently runs only for one week.
Of the nine Masters 100 tournaments – the most important events after the four Grand Slams – the seven that include women run for 12 days.
“The best product, I believe, would be a combined event and not back-to-back,” he said.
“So we’re really looking at, if it does happen in the future, it will be combined.” AFP, REUTERS
