Lorenzo Musetti says his performance at the Monte Carlo Masters has given him confidence ‘to be more ambitious’ at future major events.
The Italian played his first Masters 1000 final on Sunday, taking the opening set before losing 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 to Carlos Alcaraz. In Monte Carlo, he knocked out defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals and then Alex de Minaur in a three-set epic to reach the title match. As a result, he will rise to a career-high of No.11 in the PIF ATP rankings on Monday.
However, Musetti came up short against Alcaraz and was physically struggling during the later stages of their encounter. He took a medical timeout for treatment on his upper right leg and later confirmed that he would undergo some tests to determine the issue.
“We still don’t know yet exactly but of course we are gonna do some exams in the next few days,” Musetti told reporters.
“The thing is that I couldn’t finish the match properly but in a final, I didn’t want to retire.
“It was probably the best way to finish, even if I was not able to play anymore.
“Probably the toughness of the long week and the long matches that I played, at the end it cost me a little bit today.”
Coming into the final, Musetti spent a total of 11 hours and 33 minutes playing competitively in the tournament which was almost four hours longer than Alcaraz. He was aiming to claim his third win over a top-three player on the Tour in 15 attempts.
Despite struggling with his physicality in the final, the 23-year-old believes there are plenty of positives to draw upon with one of his targets now being a strong run at the upcoming French Open. Musetti reached the Wimbledon semi-finals last year but is yet to get past the fourth round at the other three major tournaments.
“Clay is probably my favorite surface. It’s my natural habitat,” he said.
“I think this week gave me the confidence to be more ambitious even in bigger tournaments like this one or the French Open.
“It’s a massive point of the season for me. I don’t have so many points to defend. So hopefully I can be prepared to do some great things there.
“I feel like that I have the level to stay at the top on clay.”
To get to the later stages of such tournaments, Musetti needs to get the better of the top names such as Alcaraz. A player who he has a lot of respect for.
“Carlos is already a legend of this sport, even if he’s younger than me. He’s a record-breaker, and on court sometimes you feel his aura,” he said of the world No.3.
“I played a fantastic first set, which made him change something in his game. Probably if I was 100% physically, I could be more there and stay there with more energy. That’s what you need to try to beat someone like Carlos.
“I will try to get revenge against him hopefully soon.”
Musetti is the third Italian man to play a Monte Carlo final in the Open Era after Corrado Barazzutti (1977) and Fabio Fognini (2019).
