”It is not the way I would have wanted to win a match," Alcaraz said. "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 per cent soon.”

Alcaraz arrived in Monte-Carlo off the back of a shock second-round exit in Miami. Back on clay, the 21 year-old rediscovered his groove with gritty three-set wins over Francisco Cerundolo and Arthur Fils, plus straight-sets victories against Daniel Altmaier and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

”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.”

Competing against 23 year-old Musetti in the second Masters 1000 final of the season between two players born in the 2000s, Alcaraz leaned on his big-match experience. Having triumphed at Roland Garros and earned silver at the Paris Olympics on clay last year, the Spaniard stayed composed in chilly, slow conditions to earn his third Masters 1000 title on clay.

Musetti, competing in his first Masters 1000 final, matched 18-time tour-level titlist Alcaraz for large periods but began to flex out his right leg in the third set. He received treatment at 0-3 in the decider and was unable to match Alcaraz physically in the closing stages.

The victory will move Alcaraz past Aelxander Zverev and into Number-two in the ATP Rankings. The Spaniard is also first in the ATP Live Race To Turin. Now tied with Daniil Medvedev for the 10th-most Masters 1000 titles in series history (since 1990), he will look to add to his tally when he competes on home soil at the Masters 1000 event in Madrid later this month.

Musetti defeated Top 10 stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur en route to his maiden Masters 1000 final. The 23 year-old, who will rise to a career-high No. 11 in the rankings, was aiming to become the third Italian Masters 1000 champion, after Jannik Sinner (4) and 2019 Monte-Carlo champion Fabio Fognini.

The Italian has demonstrated impressive clay-court pedigree in the past. He won the bronze medal on the surface at the Paris Olympics last season, defeated Novak Djokovic in Monte-Carlo in 2023 and lifted the title at the ATP 500 in Hamburg in 2022. 

Aiming to capture his biggest victory yet, Musetti started strongly. He played with variety and aggression in the first set to lead but was unable to maintain his consistency in the second set before injury heavily hampered him in the decider.

In fromt of a capacity crowd at Court Rainier III, it did not take time for Alcaraz and Musetti to find their range. The Spaniard produced a stunning forehand pass on the run to break the Italian in the first game but Musetti quickly responded.

The Italian broke back immediately and dictated large periods of the first set, getting his forehand consistently into play in the early stages of the baseline exchanges. The 23 year-old hit seven winners to six unforced errors in the first set, sealing the opener on his first set point.

Alcaraz responded empathically in the second set to quickly draw level, though. He returned closer to the baseline, found greater control on the forehand and improved on serve. He made 78 per cent of his first serves in the second set compared to 66 per cent in the first set and started to rush Musetti, who committed nine unforced errors in the set.

Musetti was unable to move in the third set and cut a distraught figure during the 0-5 changeover. Alcaraz remained composed, sealing victory after one hour and 54 minutes.