Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they battle for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title on Sunday afternoon.
Alcaraz has won three of their four previous encounters has won three in a row, a stretch that includes a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 romp at the 2023 French Open. Musetti won their first-ever meeting 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 in the 2022 Hamburg final.
“(It was a) long time ago, three years ago,” the Italian reflected. “So of course both of us, we changed a lot. What I can say is that was really an epic match–a roller-coaster. There I was leading and then I lost the second set with many match points, championship points. Then I came back. So for sure the key of that match was the mental part, which [did well]. So hopefully tomorrow I’ll do the same.”
Musetti’s mental strength has been incredible this week. The world No. 16 has come back from a set down a whopping four times, beating Bu Yunchaokete, Jiri Lehecka, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alex de Minaur. He also defeated compatriot Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets.
Alcaraz has survived a pair of three-setters, scraping past Francisco Cerundolo and Arthur Fils. The third-ranked Spaniard knocked off Daniel Altmaier and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in slightly more comfortable fashion on his way to a first Monte-Carlo championship match.
Musetti is playing well and basically has home-court advantage, but there has to be some mental and physical fatigue heading into Sunday. This is Alcaraz’s match to win or lose…and he’ll probably win it.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.