Carlos Alcaraz completed his Cinderella story at the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, with the second seed lifting his first title here at the expense of an injured opponent.
Lorenzo Musetti was unable to compete in the final set as he suffered with an injury to his hip and upper right thigh.
The Italian, a crowd favourite at this venue just 15 kilometres from the Italian border, went down 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 to a subdued Alcaraz,
Musetti will move to 11th n the world on Monday, scant consolation after a tough week on the clay.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz, winner of four Grand Slam titles, had never won a match in the principality prior to this edition. His only other appearances ended with a 2022 opening loss to Sebastian Korda.
A potentially chaotic scenario with Sunday’s rain forecast, was avoided with an unorthodox noon start for the final.
Musetti said “it’s always a lesson from Carlos. It’ not easy to talk after this defeat, I had hoped to fight to the end.
“I hope to challenge to the end but it was not to be today,”
Alcaraz now owns six Masters 1000 titles while Musetti will achieve a career-high ranking of 11th after his performance this week.
Musetti swept through the opening set, with Alcaraz striking 14 unforced errors. But as his physical problems began to set in, the momentum shifted in favour of Alcaraz, who ran out victory in an hour and three-quarters.
“This is not the way you want to win a final,” Alcaraz said. “Lorenzo has been through a tough week, paying long and intense matches
“I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers quickly. I hope it’s nothing serious and he will be 100 per cent really soon.”
Alcaraz, who heads onto home clay of Barcelona next week, added: “I’m happy to have won here for the first time.
“I’ve had some (unspecified) tough situations off court. I’m proud of how I dealt with everything., it’s been a difficult one for me.
“I’m glad the hard work paid off. I had to stop onto the court and find a way to play good tennis and not focus on anything else.”
Alcaraz was playing in his third straight clay final after Roland Garros and the Paris Olympics.
Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz lifts his maiden Monte Carlo trophy – by ISF Ltd
