Monte Carlo, Musetti flies to the final against Alcaraz: De Minaur defeated

Monte Carlo, 12 April 2025 - Never before today had he reached a semi-final in a 1000 Masters, but Lorenzo Mustetti he is not satisfied he even takes the final, where to find Carlos Alcaraz, who won the Spanish derby against Alexander Davidovich Fokina in 2 set (7(7)-6(2); 6-4). The mission succeeds, as often happens to the Carrara player who comes back. Very bad in the first set, won 6-1 da Alex De Minaur, good at snatching every possible break. The Italian redeems himself and wins the second set 6-4, postponing the issue to the third set, which in turn was resolved by a tie-break after a long series of breaks and counter-breaks. After 2 hours 40' the game wins musetti which tomorrow, rain permitting, will challenge alcaraz to give yourself a dream.

First set

 The beginning for musetti it's a shock: batting turn and immediately 0-40 before a recovery out on a crosscourt backhand De Minaur, who then manages to get an immediate break. The Australian also struggles on serve, immediately conceding a double fault before also making a mistake with his forehand: in deuce the number 10 of the ranking is also saved thanks to the tape, which welcomes the backhand down the line of musettiThe Tuscan returns to serve and does it badly again, making mistakes with the smash and then with the backhand: De Minaur instead it is almost perfect and he takes the double break that in fact directs the whole set. Also because the Australian does not seem to concede anything: instead the number 10 of the ranking drags himself to the advantages, in which he misses the forehand down the line that instead he will succeed in musetti, who takes a break and reopens a partial that seemed sealed. To give meaning to this flash, continuity is needed, but the forehand continues to create many problems for the Italian, who is good at getting up with a smash supported before finding the ace, well 212 km/h, in the advantages, which reward De Minaur: demerits of musetti, who misses the backhand and confirms the very sad fact of having always lost the serve in this set. De Minaur, strong of the 4-1 partial, returns to serve and, thanks to the unfortunate responses of his rival, closes this game to love just when a few drops of rain appear on the court. musetti it's to stay in this disastrous set and also to keep the serve for once. Nothing to do: after 35 ' of game De Minaur you take the set for 6-1, with the increasingly heavy rain seeming to be the only threat. Bad musetti with his usual forehand but also with an emblematic drop shot that then turns out to be a perfect assist for his rival, becoming almost the symbol of the entire terrible first set.

Second set

 After a not short break due to the rain, the game resumes with De Minaur at the bat and scores immediately: musetti misses a forehand, but the Australian does the same before firing a backhand into the net and immediately conceding a break. The Tuscan has to consolidate it and does so with a 40-0 further stimulated by other serious errors of the number 10 of the ranking, which perhaps suffered the most from the interruption of 7' of the game. The suffering of De Minaur continues but this time, even if passing through the advantage lottery, the game is saved: the exultation after the central winning serve speaks volumes about the fear of cashing in the double break. Indeed: in the following game it is the Australian who finds the counter-break by taking advantage of a forehand into the net by musetti, which in this partial remains decidedly too short. The Tuscan feels the blow and opens his backhand too much, but then recovers with a cross-court forehand: De Minaur he suffers but saves himself at deuce with a great forehand volley. musetti replicates and takes over 3-3, while in the next game the Australian concedes a double fault, but two unforced errors from his rival, plus the final one in the forehand, pave the way for the 4-3. The good news for musetti is that in the meantime his service turns have become almost perfect, but to dream of something more an acceleration is needed that arrives in the next game, the one of the break signed with a great smash. The Italian goes to serve for the set and succeeds in the intent after having passed from advantages: it ends 6-4 after 55 ' of play, and for musetti It's a good thing to have reopened the match after such a disastrous first set.

Third set

 De Minaur grows with the backhand before closing the game with a winning serve. On serve it goes musetti, and this time there are no nasty surprises even though the Australian is improving, also running into bad luck when his backhand is just wide: then the net closes the game, bringing the set to1-1Balance reigns supreme and every game is very close: even the third, in which musetti finds a sensational point with a fantastic forehand cross-court passing shot. With the same fundamental, on advantage, De Minaur shoot out, delivering to the number 16 of the ranking a precious break. The joy is however ephemeral, because the Australian immediately redeems himself with a counter-break to love: very bad musetti, the one from the first set who makes all the mistakes in his service game is back. Once again, the Tuscan rises from the ashes and takes another break, but in addition to his merits there are many demerits of De Minaur, who first misses a drop shot and then a seemingly not impossible forehand. The goal of musetti it's time to consolidate the break, potentially decisive for the whole match: the Tuscan returns dominant from the baseline and closes with a winning serve from 209 km/h what does it mean 4-2. De Minaur goes to serve to stay in the slipstream and quickly gets to the 40-0, before immediately closing out a game that was never in doubt, with a final ace. musetti misses an easy forehand on 30 all, but he gets up again with an external joke that means 5-3 and the ball is sent back to the Australian to stay in the match. And the latter immediately flies on the 40-0, tainted only by a great long-line response from musetti, which then goes to serve for the final. Just at the key moment, the Tuscan's light goes out and so De Minaur fly on 40-0, prelude to the 5-5, for a break scored in the crucial phase of the entire match. The game ended with a double fault by musetti, imitated then by his rival: the Australian, thanks to a backhand long line into the net by the Tuscan, closes the game and moves to 6-5. musetti goes to serve to stay in the match, with the tie-break objective, perhaps the most correct one for what the two players put on the field. Mission accomplished, thanks first to an ace and then to the service and winning forehand. He serves first De Minaur, which with a cross-court forehand pinches less than half the line. The longline forehand of musetti is instead wide, thus handing the mini-break to the rival, who then misses the backhand and brings the tie-break to 2-2. De Minaur overtakes with a smash before sending a backhand down the line into the net that graces musetti, totally out of position. The Tuscan serves to 218 km/h and then with a straight down the line he flies on 4-3, but the Australian hits a long volley. musetti find the mini-break by pushing back from the bottom, while De Minaur he starts to make mistakes and does it with a cross-court backhand: the Australian repeats himself by finding the net and it is the mistake that sends musetti in the final tomorrow against alcaraz, bringing the curtain down on this very long set after 1 hour and 8' of play.