Alcaraz wins Monte-Carlo Masters as Musetti limps to finish line

Alcaraz triumphed 3-6 6-1 6-0 in an hour and 46 minutes, though in truth, the contest was over in the first game of the decider, when Musetti began to struggle with a hip issue.

It was a sad end to a match that started brilliantly for Musetti.

Having been broken in the very first game, the Italian showed tremendous composure to reel off four games in succession, with Alcaraz committing 11 unforced errors before Musetti made one of his own.

Alcaraz showed some resistance at the end of the set, but Musetti dialled up the pace on his serves to inch ahead, converting his first set point with an exquisite drop shot.

The second set followed a different trajectory as Alcaraz finally found a way to pair his baseline power with the necessary accuracy. He got another early break, roaring towards his box when Musetti flicked a forehand long.

The Spaniard's best moment saw him return a Musetti forehand while slipping and falling onto the clay, before getting up to sink a wonderful backhand winner. Though Musetti avoided the second-set bagel, the momentum was firmly with Alcaraz going into the decider.

But what should have been a thrilling final set ended on a sad note as Musetti injured his right hip and was reduced to strolling around the court, unable to get anywhere near Alcaraz's pinpoint strokes.

After a medical timeout, Musetti bravely opted to soldier on rather than retire from the biggest final of his career, but he wore a look of devastation as Alcaraz finished with the minimum of fuss.

Trophy timeFor the first time since Indian Wells last March, @carlosalcaraz is a Masters 1000 winner@ROLEXMCMASTERS | #RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/lqPu8gSI9E

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 13, 2025

There have been plenty of parallels between the career of Alcaraz and that of his idol, Rafael Nadal, with their excellence on clay being one of them.

And on Sunday, Alcaraz, at the age of 21 years and 337 days, became the youngest Monte-Carlo Masters champion since Nadal, who won the tournament at the age of 21 years and 321 days in 2008.

Alcaraz has won on nine of his 27 main-draw ATP appearances on clay.

That 33.3% success rate is only bettered by Nadal (54.3%, 63/116) and Bjorn Borg (41.1%, 30/73) in the Open Era.

33.3 - In the Open Era, Carlos Alcaraz (33.3%, 9/27) now only trails Rafael Nadal (54.3%, 63/116) and Bjorn Borg (41.1%, 30/73) for percentage of ATP events won from main draws entered on clay. Prince.#RolexMonteCarloMasters | @ROLEXMCMASTERS @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/9J5d3Jj5D5

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) April 13, 2025