Carlos Alcaraz won his first Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday, overcoming the Italian Lorenzo Musetti in 3 sets [3-6, 6-1, 6-0] to claim his victory. It marks the sixth ATP Masters 1000 trophy for Alcaraz – his first since Indian Wells last year – and an 18th title overall for the four-time Grand Slam winner, and his most prestigious title since winning Wimbledon last year.
“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 tournament in 2022.
“It’s been a really difficult week with a lot of difficult situations.
“I’m really proud of myself for 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,” said Carlos on how he coped with a “difficult month.”
The 20-year-old Spaniard got off to a shaky start, dropping his first two service games and committing 14 unforced errors in the opening set. Musetti capitalized on the slow start to take the first set 6-3 and looked forward to a breakthrough victory. However, Alcaraz quickly turned the match around with a dominant second set, storming to a 4-0 lead and ultimately leveling the match
With this win, Alcaraz starts the European clay-court season on a high note as he prepares to defend his French Open title at Roland Garros. He will also move up a place in the rankings and displace Alexander Zverev at No. 2 after beating the Italian, who had already taken down two top 10 players, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur.
