Alcaraz fights past Musetti, secures Rome final spot

Carlos Alcaraz proved his composure and grit once more on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where he sealed his spot in the championship match.

The 22-year-old Spaniard earned a statement 6-3, 7-6(4) semi-final triumph over home favourite Lorenzo Musetti amid testing conditions at the ATP Masters 1000. Alcaraz tamed a mid-match rise in form from Musetti, as well as windy conditions and a boisterous Italian crowd to surge into his 25th tour-level final.

“Today was a really difficult day with the conditions, the wind was tough to play with,” said Alcaraz, who is now 26-2 on clay since last May. “It wasn’t about playing brilliant, spectacular tennis. It was about playing smart tennis, playing solid, going to the point when you can, and waiting for the chance to play aggressively. I think I did that pretty well, I stayed strong mentally when things didn’t go to my side.”

Welcome to the FINAL, Carlitos 💎✍️@carlosalcaraz becomes the 13th different Spaniard to reach the Rome men’s singles final in the Open Era!@InteBNLdItalia | #IBI25 pic.twitter.com/GG47Ak5d8G

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 16, 2025

Alcaraz was forced to withdraw from the Masters 1000 in Madrid due to an adductor injury, and he appears to be back near his blistering best in Rome. After recording a Tour-leading 19th win of the season, the 22-year-old will go into Sunday’s final having won 14 of his past 15 matches, including a run to the title in Monte-Carlo and the final in Barcelona last month.

With his two-hour, four-minute victory, Alcaraz tied Stefan Edberg for the second-most wins in their first 100 matches at ATP Masters 1000 level (since the series’ introduction in 1990). The Spaniard now boasts a 77-23 record at this level, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, including six titles. At just 22 years of age, Alcaraz has now already reached finals at six of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

Most ATP Masters 1000 Wins in First 100 Matches (since 1990)

Musetti, competing as the ninth man to reach the last four at all three clay-court Masters 1000 events in one season, was unable to channel the raucous crowd to a memorable comeback. The 23-year-old can, however, reflect on a milestone week in Rome: With wins over former champions Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, Musetti rose one spot to No. 8 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, securing a new career high on Monday.

“Today was a tough day for me,” said Musetti. “I entered the court with such a great mentality. But then afterwards, after the first point, I started to struggle with keeping that attitude that I showed in the past months, in the past week, that helped me to come back from various situations and from various difficult moments of the last matches.”

After also defeating Musetti in the Monte-Carlo final, Alcaraz now leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 5-1. The Spaniard awaits a championship-match clash with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner or American Tommy Paul.

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As it has throughout his campaign in Rome, Alcaraz’s level fluctuated during his semi-final clash with Musetti. The third seed, who lost two consecutive games at 4-1 in the opening set, was forced to rally from 2-4 in the second after Musetti rode the backing of the Campo Centrale crowd to lift his level.

Yet Alcaraz responded in a dramatic finish: After rallying to a 6-5 lead, he let slip a match point on return but held firm in a nervy tie-break to advance to the final on his second appearance in the Italian capital.

Despite the up-and-down nature of Friday’s encounter, Alcaraz remained composed and used the windy conditions to his advantage. While Musetti struggled to dictate from the baseline, Alcaraz used his forehand to great effect, firing 14 winners from that wing to Musetti’s three.