Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers and for the second time during this clay-court swing when they battle for a spot in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday.
Alcaraz leads the head-to-head series 4-1 after beating Musetti 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the championship match of last month’s Monte-Carlo Masters. The Spaniard has won four in a row since losing to the Italian 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 at the 2022 Hamburg event, also in the final.
If Musetti wants to turn the tide back in his favor, this could be just the time and place to do it. The 23-year-old has surged to a career-high ranking of No. 9 in the world thanks to a consistent string of awesome results in both 2024 and 2025. Last year was highlighted by a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics and a semifinal showing at Wimbledon; this year includes a runner-up effort in Monte-Carlo and a semifinal performance in Madrid. Musetti now finds himself in another Masters 1000 semifinal following straight-set victories over Otto Virtanen, Brandon Nakashima, Daniil Medvedev, and Lorenzo Musetti.
Alcaraz is seeking his third final of what has been an up-and-down clay-court season. The world No. 3 is playing pretty well, but he got injured during a loss to Holger Rune in the Barcelona title match and was forced to skip Madrid. Alcaraz has bounced back in Rome by defeating Dusan Lajovic, Laslo Djere, Karen Khachanov, and Jack Draper, dropping just one set to Khachanov in the process.
Although the 22-year-old has done well to advance, there is no question that he isn’t in absolute peak form. Musetti, of course, is most definitely in tip-top shape right now. Moreover, the eighth seed has a huge home-court advantage in front of fans who surely have designs of an all-Italian men’s singles final between Musetti and Jannik Sinner.
Musetti was right there with Alcaraz–leading, in fact–before being physically compromised in the Monte-Carlo final. This time he may be able to finish the job.
Pick: Musetti in 3
WWW?
Musetti in three please.
Carlos is BACK…in 2
I have Musetti in 3
solid pick
if he plays well, he’s a good chance.
mussetti is at home. the mafia will not let him lose
oops
That was nice from Musetti. He was very congratulatory in defeat.
Funny how home crowd can work for or against .
Musetti obviously felt the pressure of expectation more than Paolini .
But she has been in two major finals .