Carlos Alcaraz charges past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to reach Monte Carlo final

MONACO (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz battled past Spanish compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (2), 6-4 on Saturday to book his place in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters.

World No. 3 Alcaraz needed six match points to reach his 23rd tour-level final. The 21-year-old player next faces Lorenzo Musetti or Alex de Minaur on Sunday as he bids for his first trophy in Monte Carlo.

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“It’s been a long time. I just had to be patient and believe that this moment was going to come again," Alcaraz said, after reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final in 13 months—since the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells last March.

"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.”

“He saved a lot of break points and match points,” Alcaraz said. “The most important thing is that I’m feeling great physically.”

Musetti ousted defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Sunday's final has been rescheduled to take place three hours earlier than initially planned because heavy rain was forecast for the evening.

It will be Alcaraz's third consecutive clay-court final after winning the French Open and finishing with a silver medal at the Paris Olympics last year.

Should he lift the Monte Carlo trophy, Alcaraz would also overtake Alexander Zverev in the ATP Rankings and return to world No. 2 on Monday.