Carlos Alcaraz’s most recent claycourt triumph earned him his sixth ATP Masters 1000 crown and more. One of the world’s all-time tennis greats, Rafael Nadal, a former 11-time Monte Carlo Masters champion, went out of his way to shower lavish accolades on the junior Spaniard.

Alcaraz’s title triumph at the Monte Carlo Country Club represents a Spanish resurgence back onto the legendary clay surfaces Nadal once dominated. Since Nadal’s 2018 title success, no Spaniard has won the trophy in Monaco. Alcaraz began his 2025 Monte Carlo challenge with a first-round bye and swiftly picked up speed.

He defeated Francisco Cerundolo in his first-round match, then held up against Daniel Altmaier. The young Spaniard overpowered France’s 12th seed Arthur Fils in the quarterfinals before setting up an all-Spanish semifinal against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, which he too easily won.

In the title match against 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti, Alcaraz dominated the Italian 6-3, 6-1, 6-0, to win his second title of the year. In reaction to his compatriot’s victory, Nadal went on X to wish him well, tweeting:

“Congratulations @carlosalcaraz! Congratulations on 🏆 in such a special place.”

Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who experienced an early-round loss in the tournament, also praised Alcaraz. The Serb wrote a concise message under Alcaraz’s victory post on Instagram that read:

“Congratulations titan.”

Carlos Alcaraz opened up on chasing Rafael Nadal’s legacy after his Monte Carlo Masters victory

Carlos Alcaraz reflected on Rafael Nadal’s record 11 Monte Carlo Masters titles after bagging his first. In doing so, at 21 years and 337 days of age, he became the youngest Monte Carlo winner since Nadal, who captured it at age 21 years and 321 days in 2008.

During the post-match press conference, Alcaraz praised Nadal’s feat as one of the toughest accomplishments in tennis and acknowledged that replicating it would be nearly impossible.

“I have been talking with my team several times about what Rafa did on clay probably, it is one of the most difficult things to do in sport or one of the greatest things, not in tennis, in the whole sport,” Alcaraz said.

“Winning the same tournament 11 times, 14 times, tournaments like this one, touraments like Roland-Garros, it is the best tournaments in the world. It is something impossible to repeat, so, I just got my first one, obviously, I am going to miss this guy (Rafa),” he added.

Carlos Alcaraz now heads home to compete at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (April 14–20), where he’ll face American qualifier Ethan Quinn in the first round. The winner will meet Laslo Djere or Arthur Rinderknech in the second round.