Alcaraz Triumphs in Monte Carlo

Alcaraz began the week by writing "I love clay" on a camera and ended it by proving he meant it. In a tournament meant to change the course of the season, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Lorenzo Musetti (3-6, 6-1, 6-0) to claim his first Monte Carlo Masters 1000 title. The Spaniard joins the illustrious list of Spanish champions in this tournament, including Manuel Orantes (1975), Sergi Bruguera (1991 and 1993), Carlos Moyá (1998), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2002 and 2023), and Rafael Nadal, who won this tournament eleven times between 2005 and 2018.

Alcaraz, now ranked as the world number two and the best player of the year, benefitted from Jannik Sinner's three-year doping ban, and overcame a set deficit to secure his fourth consecutive victory over Musetti.

The Spaniard, as he has been doing all week, started far from his best, with a first set marred by fourteen unforced errors, a number that makes it impossible to compete in a set. Musetti, whose effectiveness was near perfection, closed the first set with a spectacular drop shot and was one set away from achieving the third title of his career, the first since 2022 - having lost three finals in 2024 - and securing a second final victory over Alcaraz, after Hamburg 2022, also on clay.

But Alcaraz, known for turning around difficult situations, has always won the second set in the last four matches where he lost the first. And he did so with impressive scores: 6-0, 6-0, 7-5, and this time 6-1. The player from El Palmar had to save four break points when serving to seal the set, thus avoiding a late Italian comeback, but he levelled the match and accelerated towards victory.

With the threat of rain in the Principality, under dangerous clouds, both players wasted no time returning to the court to play the decisive set, which would determine whether there would be a first Italian champion in the tournament's history or Nadal's successor.

Musetti's energy lasted only three games. He started serving and faced a 15-40 in his first game. He saved the first two break points, one with an ace and another by taking advantage of a poor drop shot from Alcaraz, but succumbed on the third, rushing a forehand down the line.

The break against him knocked Musetti down, and Alcaraz quickly went up 0-3 with a double break. Musetti stopped the match and requested medical time. He was given a pill and had his quadriceps massaged for several minutes, while Alcaraz couldn't sit still and warmed up on his side of the court.

The Italian's mobility was severely reduced, and when the Spaniard made it 4-0, Musetti had lost 15 of the last 17 points. His final was over, marking the beginning of Alcaraz's reign in Monte Carlo, a place where, until 2025, he had never won a match.

The victory places him 2,210 points ahead of Sinner, who will return to the circuit on May 4th, when his three-month suspension agreed with the authorities ends. Additionally, in the race to Turin, which determines the best player of the year, Alcaraz is now first, 410 points ahead of Sinner, who has only played one tournament, the Australian Open, which he won in January.

Alcaraz's next stop is the Conde de Godó, which begins this Monday, where he will debut on Tuesday or Wednesday against a player from the qualifying rounds.