Alcaraz: Learn not to conform to expectations, and above all to enjoy tennis

On the evening of April 13, Beijing time, Spanish king Alcaraz won the title of this year's Monte Carlo Masters, and he won the men's singles final with Musetti in three sets. Musetti's fitness deteriorated significantly in the deciding set, as he called a medical timeout at a 3-0 break, took painkillers and received a massage, after which he was unable to exert his full strength, but the Italian opted to finish the match anyway.

Alcaraz

Alcaraz said after the game: "It's not the way I want to win. For Lorenzo [Musetti], he had a very difficult week, played a lot of long matches and I feel sorry for him, it was one of the best results of his career and it wasn't easy for him to end up in a situation like this. Hopefully he's okay from his injuries and he'll be back soon. ”

This is the second time in Alcaraz's career that he has competed in Monte Carlo, where he has struggled to win (losing to Korda in his first match in 2022). Alcaraz missed out on defending his title at this year's Indian Wells Masters, losing to eventual champion Draper in the semi-finals, before losing to Goffin in the second round of the Miami Masters. The Spaniard, who returned to clay, bounced back and broke a year-long Masters title drought in Monte Carlo.

"I'm very happy to win in Monte Carlo for the first time, it's been a very difficult week and I've overcome a lot of difficult situations." Speaking at his post-match press conference, Alcaraz said: "I'm proud of my performance, it's been a tough month for me, so it's great to be here and see that my hard work has paid off. ”

Alcaraz has as many as 2,200 points to save this year's clay season, and after Monte Carlo's victory, he said he will take the rest of the clay season with a sense of normalcy: "A lot of people have very high expectations for me, they expect me to have a very good season on clay, maybe I can win every event, so it's a tough pressure to deal with. But one of the things I've learned over the last month is that I have to think about myself, I just have to think about my team, my family, my friends, and whatever happens on the field – whether I win or lose – I'm going to walk off the pitch with joy. I realised that I shouldn't think about rankings, all I had to do was enjoy tennis. I think I did it this week and it paid off. ”

"For the rest of the clay season, I'm going to try to keep myself in the same mindset and not think about what is expected. I only listen to the people around me and the team, and that's all that matters to me, and I'm going to try to go into the clay season with that mentality. ”

This is Alcaraz's sixth Masters title (Miami 2022, Madrid 2022, Indian Wells 2023, Madrid 2023, Indian Wells 2024, Monte Carlo 2025), and he is tied with Djokovic for 10th place in the list of Masters titles (since 1990), the first nine are Djokovic (40), Nadal (36), Federer (28), Agassi (17), Murray (14), Sampras (11), Muster (8), Zhang Depei/Zverev (7).

(Text, Editor/Faye Wong, Photo/Visual China)