Carlos Alcaraz responds to Jannik Sinner and does not give up on his No. 1
Carlos Alcaraz responded with authority to Jannik Sinner in his debut at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000. The Azzurri had impressed by overwhelming Frenchman Ugo Humbert with a clear 6-3 6-0, but the Spaniard responded with an equally convincing 6-1, 6-3 over Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, earning him access to the round of 16 on the Principality’s clay.
The defending champion returned to the court after losing the semifinals in Indian Wells to Daniil Medvedev and being eliminated in the round of 16 in Miami at the hands of Sebastian Korda. The race for world No. 1 with Sinner remains wide open: the South Tyrolean would return to the top by winning the tournament, or by reaching the final with Alcaraz stopped in the semifinals (or sooner), or by hitting the semifinals with the Spaniard eliminated in the quarters (or sooner).
If Alcaraz had gone out in the opener, Sinner would only need to land in the quarters to regain the scepter. In the next round, the almost 23-year-old (he will complete his birthday on May 5) will face the winner between Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Terence Atmane, starting as a clear favorite. Against the ATP number 65, the first set was without history: immediate breaks in the first, third and seventh games, always at the first useful opportunity. The second partial was more hard-fought: Alcaraz broke serve in the second game, nullified three break points on 0-40 in the fourth, suffered a lapse in the seventh, but reacted immediately with a new break and closed without any trouble.
Jannik Sinner expressed his views after his easy success against Frenchman Ugo Humbert in Monte Carlo: “It was a good performance, you have to change your style of play a little bit, adjust to some characteristics,” stressed the current world number 2. The first matches are always difficult, with a left-hander then…. I had good feelings. You have to adapt on all surfaces: the hardest thing is the slip but the best training is the matches.”
The match was never in question: Sinner cleared Humbert in just 64 minutes with a clear 6-3 6-0, without conceding a single break ball. The Frenchman, who came onto the court with a conspicuous bandage on his right leg, tried to set up an aggressive strategy based on incisive serves and quick exchanges, but the low percentage of first serves (43%) and the Italian’s excellent response steered the match from the first bars. Two breaks in the fifth and ninth games were enough to close the first set; in the second there was virtually no match.
