Lorenzo Musetti’s coach reveals why he urged him to ‘give up’ in Monte Carlo Masters final against Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz took home his ninth clay-court title by beating Lorenzo Musetti in his first Monte Carlo Masters final.
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Carlos Alcaraz, Lorenzo Musetti (Image via X/@alcarchive, Roland Garros)
Carlos Alcaraz came from a set down to beat Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in an hour and 46 minutes to take home the Monte Carlo Masters title for the first time in his career. Musetti was not playing his best tennis, for he struggled with a leg injury throughout the match.
His coach, Simone Tartarini, even urged him to retire mid-match, but the Italian ace didn’t give up without completing the match. Tartarini revealed the 23-year-old had injured his leg even before the match.
This morning, during warm-up, Lorenzo had a quadriceps problem. We took all the necessary precautions, but during the match, he felt more and more pain. He was already in pain after the first set. But obviously, he didn’t want to retire since it was a final: he stayed on the court out of respect because a final is played to the end. Halfway through the second set, I told him to give up; he was in a lot of pain.
Simone Tartarini told Ubitennis
Because of the injury, the World No.11 withdrew from the Barcelona Open where he was scheduled to lock horns with Jaume Munar to kick start his campaign. Had Musetti played the tournament and reached the final, he could have once again set up a clash with the 21-year-old.
Musetti arrived in Monte Carlo following his straight-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in the Miami Open fourth round. Before securing a spot in his first Masters 1000 final, Musetti knocked out defending champion and three-time Monte Carlo Masters winner Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals and Alex de Minaur in the semifinals. He was aiming to become the third Italian player to claim a Masters 1000 title following Jannik Sinner and Fabio Fognini both of who have lifted four and one titles respectively.
Alcaraz, on the other hand, suffered a shock opening-round exit in Miami before claiming his second title of the season in The Principality (first being the Rotterdam Open). With this win, the four-time Grand Slam champion has improved his head-to-head record over Musetti to 4-1.
Carlos Alcaraz doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone with his Monte Carlo Masters win
Because he is Carlos Alcaraz, he is expected to win almost every tournament. So far, that’s not the case this season as Alcaraz took home titles but he has also made early exits. After his win, Alcaraz said did not feel he had anything to prove to his critics.
Let’s say it’s a crazy talk when you don’t win or when people set very high expectations for you, and when you don’t win tournaments or matches, people talk a lot. I’ve realized that I don’t have to pay attention to that, just focus on myself. I’m not going to say I’ve proven anything; I’m very happy to have been able to concentrate on the important thing.
Carlos Alcaraz said at the press conference
Alcaraz will next play at the Barcelona Open. He is set to lock horns with Ethan Quinn for the first time in his career in his Barcelona Open first-round match.
As he claimed 1000 points with his victory in Monte Carlo, he replaced Alexander Zverev from the second position in the rankings table. But he can once again drop to the third place if he suffers an early exit in his home tournament and the German clinches the BMW Open.
Alcaraz and Zverev have 7,720 and 7,595 points respectively. They won’t be able to dethrone Jannik Sinner from the top as despite playing just one tournament (the Australian Open) so far in the season, he continues to sit on the top with 9,930 points.
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