Carlos Alcaraz defeats Lorenzo Musetti; clinches maiden Monte Carlo Masters title

The 21-year-old Spaniard won 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in an hour and three-quarters to secure a sixth ATP Masters 1000 title of his career. He has also made the perfect start to the European clay-court season as he prepares to defend his French Open crown at Roland Garros.

Alcaraz struggled for traction early on, dropping his first two service games and hitting 14 unforced errors to allow Musetti to claim the first set.

However, the Italian's lead was short-lived as Alcaraz stormed into a 4-0 advantage before taking the second 6-1.

In the decider, Alcaraz broke Musetti twice for a 3-0 lead before his visibly worn-down opponent took a medical time-out for treatment on his right leg.

The 23-year-old, contesting his first Masters final, decided to play on but could only offer token resistance as Alcaraz won 12 of the last 14 points to complete victory.

"It's not the way I wanted to win a match. Lorenzo has been through a really tough week, with really long and intense matches. I feel really sorry for him that it ended like this; it's not easy," the Paris 2024 silver medallist said in his on-court post-match interview, as quoted by Olympics.com.

"I'm 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."

Since last year's French Open, Alcaraz now has a singles record of 17-1 on clay. The sole defeat was at the hands of Novak Djokovic in the Paris 2024 Olympic final.

His victory in Monaco also means the Spaniard will overtake Alexander Zverev as world number two when the latest rankings are released on Monday.