Carlos Alcaraz: a first to debunk in response to Jannik Sinner
Fifteenth win in a row on clay for Carlos Alcaraz, who in the quarters will face Alexander Bublik (No. 11 ATP), fresh off a 6-2 7-5 victory over Czech Jiri Lehecka, recently a finalist in Miami. The two have never faced each other in official matches, as Alcaraz himself recalled, “We have only practiced once, but it will be the first challenge in an official tournament. It will be fun, we will see who has the better short ball.” For both of them, the match will also have a bearing on the rankings: the Spaniard needs to keep winning to stay on top of the rankings and maintain his lead over Jannik Sinner, while Bublik, in case of success, would fall back into the top ten.
The quarterfinal between Alcaraz and Bublik is the third match scheduled for Friday, April 10, on Court Rainier III, the center court of the Monte Carlo Country Club, and will be staged following than the Fonseca-Zverev and Sinner-Auger-Aliassime challenges. The winner of the match will face off in the semifinals against whoever gets the better of host Valentin Vacherot and Australian Alex de Minaur, world No. 6.
The stakes for Alcaraz are very high on the ranking front. The Spaniard, during the Monaco tournament, has already openly admitted that he has many points to defend on clay: “I don’t know if the overtaking will come in this tournament or in the next one. I have many points to defend and it will be difficult to confirm all of them. Even if I could, Jannik would still gain some. First place, however, is not something that worries me.” Words that confirm the Murcian’s awareness of the delicacy of the moment, with Sinner who could return to the top as early as Monte Carlo should he win the tournament, or the finals combined with an early exit by the Spaniard.
It should not be forgotten that Alcaraz arrived at this quarterfinal after suffering more than expected in the round of 16 against Argentine Tomás Martín Etcheverry, folded in three sets with a score of 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Just like Sinner against Machac, the Spaniard dominated the first set only to drop conspicuously in the second, before regaining his lucidity and closing in the third. “I’m happy to have saved a match that I had under control, but that got complicated in the final. These are important matches, where you maybe lose your feeling and rhythm but you manage to make up for it and find the right solution to win. It gives me a lot of confidence for the next round,” the world number one had told a press conference.
