Carlos Alcaraz made an impressive comeback after dropping the first set and won against Lorenzo Musetti with a final scoreline of 6-1, 6-0 to successfully receive his first Monte Carlo Masters.
The Spaniard took control of the final two sets as his opponent was hindered by injury and struggled to maintain his previous playing form.
Despite his win, Alcaraz admitted that Musetti’s injury somewhat dulled the satisfaction of his victory. With this, he remarked in his on-court interview: “It’s not the way I wanted to win a match. Thinking about Lorenzo, he’s been through a really tough week, really long and intense matches. I feel really sorry for him that it ended like this, it’s not easy. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious and he’s going to be 100% really soon.”
Alcaraz added: “Really happy to have won Monte Carlo for the first time. Difficult win with a lot of difficult situations. I dealt with everything. It’s been a difficult month for me, outside and on the court, but coming here and seeing the hard work paying off makes me really happy. I was struggling stepping on the court and playing tennis. It’s been difficult to focus on the important things and follow the good path again.”
In a social media post, the athlete shared: “🏆❤️ @rolexmontecarlomasters”
View this post on Instagram
One social media user commented (translated): “Great champion! 💪 But what makes you even greater, is your humility. You saw your opponent collapse because of his injury and you started playing with less aggression, out of consideration for him and that makes you great! 👏 👏 👏 I applaud your achievements and your triumphs and you give me enormous joy every time you win and when you win and in addition, you demonstrate nobility, I’m double happy! I’m your number one fan in Ecuador 👏❤️🇪🇨🇪🇦”
“The trophies suit you best! I love you!❤️❤️❤️” Another netizen wrote.
Highlights of the game
Alcaraz started strong and broke Musetti’s serve in the first game. The young Spaniard looked so confident and used his drop shots to his advantage. However, Musetti did not back down from the challenge and broke Alcaraz right back.
Musetti then held serve easily and broke Alcaraz to take a 4-1 lead, and the Spaniard lost his rhythm for a while. Musetti stayed in control and won the next two service games and finished the first set 6-3.
In the second set, Alcaraz returned to the game and won the first two games quickly. However, Musetti started to struggle with his injury, which led to Alcaraz dominating the set 6-1.
Musetti was not clearly in his best form by the third set, as he had trouble moving and needed medical assistance. With this, the Spaniard won all six games in the final set, finishing the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 to win his first Monte Carlo Masters.