Impressive Carlos Alcaraz continues clay dominance in Rome, defeats Lorenzo Musetti to reach coveted final

Carlos Alcaraz became the first finalist of the Rome Open after defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6(4). The Spaniard returns to a Masters 1000 final and extends his great momentum on clay courts with 13 wins in his last 14 matches.

The Spaniard will seek his 7th Masters 1000 title this Sunday when he faces the winner between Jannik Sinner and Tommy Paul in the final.

The first set quickly began to tilt in favor of the Spaniard, who secured an early break and then saved three break points against him to move ahead 2-0. Musetti sought a reaction and had to come back from a couple of break points against him to stay behind his opponent and avoid a bigger gap.

However, Alcaraz achieved his second consecutive break in the 5th game and moved ahead 4-1, with the chance to increase the distance on his serve. However, Musetti would react, immediately breaking back and reducing the distance to 3-4, again saving several break points against him.

The match was in an irregular phase, full of unforced errors from both sides, especially from the Italian, who struggled to keep the ball in play in long rallies and won his service games with difficulty. In any case, Alcaraz maintained his composure – even despite his own errors – and ended up closing the set 6-3 by securing his third break in Musetti's five service games. Unforced errors were Musetti's biggest problem, with 3 winners and 29 unforced errors compared to Alcaraz's 9 winners and 17 unforced errors. It was a particularly irregular set, with 46 unforced errors out of the 79 points played.

Tensions were evident with errors from both sides, which continued at the start of the second set. Both players started by exchanging breaks, but Musetti secured two consecutive breaks and took the lead after holding his serve for the first time in the set, moving ahead 3-1.

Little by little, the players began to find a better rhythm and limited their unforced errors. The Italian managed to cling to the lead until 4-2, but Alcaraz still had something to say in the match. The Spaniard recovered the break, became strong on his serve, winning 12 of the next 16 points, and moved ahead 5-4.

Both held serve until 6-5, at which point in an exchange, Musetti saved a match point against him and managed to take everything to a tie-break. However, it was not enough to extend the match to a third set, and the Spaniard ended up taking the victory 6-3, 7-6(4), advancing once again to the final of a Masters 1000. Just like in the Monte-Carlo semifinals, Alcaraz showed composure in the moment of pressure and ended up closing out a notable triumph against the world No. 9, while awaiting a potential dream final against Sinner.