|
Alcaraz cruised to his first Monte Carlo trophy
and his 18th tour-level victory. The 21-year-old Spaniard will
reach No. 2 in the world rankings following the triumph in
Monaco.
Musetti started showing signs of a right-leg injury in the third
set and received treatment at 0-3. Playing in his first Masters
1000 final, the 23-year-old Italian had trouble moving and
keeping up with Alcaraz toward the end of the match.
“This is not the way I want to win a match, I really feel sorry
for him,” Alcaraz said. “Just really happy to have won the Monte
Carlo for the first time. It's been a really difficult week,
with a lot of difficult situations, I'm really proud of myself
how I dealt with everything.”
Alcaraz has struggled at times this year and was coming off an
opening-round loss to David Goffin in Miami.
It was Alcaraz’s third consecutive clay-court final after
winning the French Open and finishing with a silver medal at the
Paris Olympics last year.
Alcaraz was playing in his 23rd tour-level final. He had needed
six match points to put away Spanish compatriot Alejandro
Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the semifinal on Saturday.
Musetti, whose only two tour-level titles came in 2022, broke
Alcaraz's serve twice to win the first set, but Alcaraz came
back strong with two breaks of his own in the second to even the
match. Musetti was never much in contention in the decider.
Musetti, ranked 13th and a bronze-medalist in Paris last year,
defeated Alex de Minaur 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in their semifinal.
The Italian had ousted defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in
the quarterfinals.
The final was moved forward by three hours because heavy rain
was forecast for the evening.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
