Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters with a hard-fought 7-6 (6-2) 6-4 triumph over fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Alcaraz needed a comeback to beat Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals, and Davidovich Fokina provided him with another stern test in the last four.

The four-time grand slam champion got two of three breaks in the 65-minute opener but squandered four set points – two against his opponent's serve – before finally inching ahead in a tie-break.

An immediate break at the start of the second set put Alcaraz in command, though he missed six opportunities to make it successive breaks in Davidovich Fokina's next service game.

An improved service display helped Alcaraz navigate the second set, with his success rate behind his first serve improving from 61% in the opener to 73%.

Five match points came and went before he finally converted at the sixth attempt.

Sunday's showpiece will be Alcaraz's first final at a Masters 1000 event since he triumphed at Indian Wells in March 2024.

In his on-court interview, Alcaraz said: "It’s been a long time. I just had to be patient and believe that this moment was going to come again.

"Sometimes people are not patient, they want me to make the final in every tournament. I'm really happy to give them the chance to watch one of my finals again."

5 - Carlos Alcaraz is only the fifth player aged 21 or under in the Open Era to reach the final at both Monte-Carlo and Roland Garros:

Bjorn Borg
Mats Wilander
Carlos Moya
Rafael Nadal
Carlos Alcaraz

Natural.#RolexMonteCarloMasters | @ROLEXMCMASTERS @atptour pic.twitter.com/VSO488aFJp
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) April 12, 2025

Data debrief: The new King of Clay

Alcaraz will now play in his third straight clay-court final after winning the French Open and claiming a silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games last year.

He is now 72-3 on clay at ATP level after winning the first set, only ever letting a lead slip against the eventual champions at Umag 2021 (versus Jannik Sinner), Rio 2023 (Cameron Norrie) and Madrid 2024 (Andrey Rublev).

Alcaraz has yet to win a Masters 1000 title on the surface outside of his home country, though, having won the Madrid Open on two occasions.

Sunday's match will be his seventh Masters 1000 final overall, surpassing world number one Sinner (six) for the outright most by any player born this century.