Carlos Alcaraz overcomes worn-out Lorenzo Musetti for first title in Monte Carlo

Carlos Alcaraz captured his sixth career ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Sunday as Lorenzo Musetti faded physically in a disappointing end to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 final match.

Musetti came into the match having lost his last three meetings with Alcaraz, never winning more than three games in any of the seven sets within those matches. And when he was broken from 30-15 to start the match, and faced three chances on Alcaraz's serve to trail 2-0, the start for the Italian was inauspicious. But a five-deuce game gave Musetti the break back, and he soared to four straight games against an increasingly erratic Alcaraz, on his way to winning his first set against the Spaniard since beating him to win the ATP 500 in Hamburg in 2022.

After a second-set blitz, as Alcaraz rounded into form, Musetti became increasingly hobbled early in the deciding set, notably grimacing off the back of a missed forehand groundstroke early on.

He later received a medical timeout on his upper right leg after dropping serve to trail 3-0, but was heavily restricted in his movement. He ultimately chose to play out the match despite being unable to move faster than walking pace. Alcaraz won 12 of the last 14 points.

”It is not the way I would have wanted to win a match," Alcaraz said afterwards. "Thinking about Lorenzo, he has been through a tough week, played long matches. I feel sorry for him. It is one of his best results, ending up like this is not easy. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he will be 100% soon.”

In all, the Italian played 17 sets of tennis across six matches, having been stretched to three sets five times on the way to his first Masters 1000 final.

"i'm really disappointed that I could not finish the match in the best way, for the crowd, for all of the support i received this week, but you deserve it," Musetti told Alcaraz post-match.

"I will try to come back for the revenge," he joked, dropping to 1-4 against Alcaraz all-time.

Nonetheless, Alcaraz was thrilled to add another Masters 1000 crown to his trophy case, crediting the strength he and his team showed through "difficult moments" in recent weeks. The Spaniard entered the tournament in spotty form, having admitted to being overcome with nerves in a semifinal defeat to Jack Draper in Indian Wells, and lost his first match in Miami to David Goffin.

Read more: Carlos Alcaraz passes Jannik Sinner for No. 1 on year-to-date live race after reaching Monte Carlo final

”I am really happy to win Monte-Carlo for the first time. It has been a really difficult week with a lot of difficult situations,” Alcaraz said. “I am proud with how I dealt with everything. It has been a difficult month for me, so coming here and seeing the hard work pay off makes me happy.”