Carlos Alcaraz will attempt to complete his set of clay-court Masters 1000 titles on Sunday after reaching the Italian Open final for the first time in his career with a demonstration of his improving discipline and consistency in windy conditions to defeat the home favourite and eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Alcaraz is the fourth active player to reach the finals of all clay-court Masters 1000 tournaments, after Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka. Alcaraz, the reigning Roland Garros and Monte Carlo champion alongside his two previous Madrid Open titles, will contest his 25th career ATP final in Rome. He will either renew his rivalry with Jannik Sinner, the No 1, or face the 11th seed Tommy Paul in the final.

“Today wasn’t easy – the conditions weren’t easy. The wind,” said Alcaraz, the third seed in Rome. “We were struggling a little bit with the game. We tried our best, I think we played a really good match with the conditions.

“I’m just really happy to get through. I didn’t do anything spectacular but I did everything well. I tried to stay solid, not making a lot of mistakes, tried to be always focused. Today was a great match from my side. I approached the match really, really well so I’m just really happy to be able to play my first final in Rome.”

The challenge before Alcaraz was one of the most impressive performers of the clay-court season so far. Although his talent has been clear for years, the 2024 season marked Musetti’s long-awaited emergence at the top of the sport with his semi-final run at Wimbledon and the Olympic singles bronze medal in Paris.

He has taken his game to new heights this year on clay, following up his first Masters 1000 final in Monte Carlo, where he lost to Alcaraz in three sets, with semi-finals in Madrid and Rome. On Wednesday, Musetti registered a stellar win over the second seed Alexander Zverev.

In an era filled with one-note baseliners, Musetti has risen the rankings thanks to his silky, varied all-court game. Along with his wicked, angular topspin forehand, the Italian frustrates his opponents with his great arsenal of shots, peppering them with backhand slices and drop shots while using his improvisational hand skills and elite defensive abilities. Alcaraz, of course, is one of the most complete players in the game in his own right.

As they started the match in blustery conditions, however, it became clear that this was all about survival. Alcaraz locked in quickly and he remained far more solid than his visibly tense opponent. Musetti struggled badly with his forehand, particularly on the important points, and Alcaraz used his outstanding defensive skills to narrow the court, emerging from a difficult, turbulent set with a 6-3 success. Musetti, who understandably cracked a racket in the final game, ended the first set with only three winners to 28 unforced errors.

Just as Alcaraz had taken control of the match, he relinquished it cheaply by dropping his opening service game and Musetti produced his cleanest stretch of attacking tennis to establish a 4-2 lead. But Alcaraz did not panic. He again cut down on his unforced errors in the key moments and, when he did look to attack, he generally chose his moments well. After a spectacular return game to level the set at 4-4, Alcaraz commanded the key points in the tie-break against an increasingly agitated Musetti to close out a well-deserved win.