Carlos Alcaraz is keen to “get his socks dirty” after enjoying a surprising career first at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Despite being a former world No. 1 and multi-Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz had never won a match at the tournament – playing once in 2022 and losing.
The second seed finally broke his duck in Monaco, coming from a set down to beat Francisco Cerundolo 3-6 6-0 6-1, and felt “relieved” to get a win on the board here. After getting his clay season off to a solid start, Alcaraz shared what he missed about the surface.
The world No. 3 had not played on the dirt since last year’s Olympics, where he lost in the gold medal match. After beating Cerundolo on Wednesday, he wrote “I missed clay” on the camera lens.
Alcaraz later went into detail about his love of the clay, admitting he was happy to get a bit dirty.
“[I missed] I think the tough battles, and as I say, you know, the serve is not as important probably as on hard court, so I think that’s pretty good for me,” he said.
“I think we playing almost every point, so we can make a lot of points or free points with the serve, so that’s make develop the point even more than probably other surface.
“Yeah, long rallies, you know, get the socks dirty a little bit. You know, that’s what I miss, to watch good tennis. I think, you know, on clay you can watch the real tennis, because as I said, it’s not only watching, you know, big serves or whatever, or points, you know, and just one or two shots.
“On clay you see long rallies. For example, yesterday, 48 [shots]. That’s what I like, watching tennis and playing here on clay.”
The world No. 3 was in an unusual position for a top player, seeking his first win at the tournament. He lost to Sebastian Korda on his Monte-Carlo Masters debut three years ago, before injuries prevented him from playing in 2023 and 2024.
But he had a tough draw, facing Cerundolo, the man with more wins on tour than anyone else this season. The Spaniard struggled early on, quickly losing the first set and facing two more break points in the opening game of the second set.
But he suddenly kicked into another gear and, from then on, only lost one more game. “I think I started to play more aggressively,” he said of his turnaround.
“I think the first set I just tried to get into the match, getting good pace, trying to play long rallies. I think I made a lot of mistakes at the beginning of the match, and I just let him dominate the game.
“So in the second set, I just wanted to play more aggressively. I started to return closer to the line, just putting pressure on his serve, and trying to play as aggressive as I can.”
Ahead of the tournament, Alcaraz claimed it was “weird” that he hadn’t notched a win at the Monte-Carlo Masters. And his victory over Cerundolo lifted a weight off his shoulders.
He added: “Yeah, I’m not going to say I was nervous because of that, but yeah, it’s one of the, you know, few tournaments that I haven’t or just the only tournament that I haven’t won one match before, so it just feel great.
“I finally got my first win here and keep going. As I said, this is a really beautiful tournament that I really want to go far, and yeah, I think this year, you know, it’s kind of relief that I got my first win.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk