Carlos Alcaraz will be up against Lorenzo Musetti in the Monte-Carlo Masters, reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final in 13 months.
The Italian, meanwhile, upset Alex de Minaur to set up the final clash.
“It’s been a long time,” said Alcaraz of his 13-month absence in Masters 1000 finals. “I just had to be patient and believe that this moment was going to come again. Sometimes the people are not patient, they want me to make the final in every tournament. I’m really happy to give them the chance to watch one of my finals again.”
If Alcaraz wins the men’s singles event; then he will be paid a bumper €946,610 with the runner-up being handed €516,925.
Comparatively Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed €919,075 when he picked up the big prize last year while Andrey Rublev was handed prize money of €892,590 when he won the Monte Carlo Masters in 2023.
“I think I played really good tennis from the beginning until the last point,” added Alcaraz said after the semi-finals win over Davidovich Fokina. “I tried to take the chances he gave me in the match. He saved a lot of break points and match points, but I’m really happy to [have] thought about myself. The most important thing is that I’m feeling great physically.”
By reaching the semifinals, Davidovich Fokina returned to top 30 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since May. The 2022 runner-up was aiming to reach his third ATP final but he was unable to edge past the Spaniard.