Carlos Alcaraz is off and working on the Monte Carlo Masters, however he is aware of he is in a shedding battle.
Carlos Alcaraz is nicely conscious that he’ll quickly lose the No. 1 rating to Jannik Sinner (Picture: Tennis TV)
Carlos Alcaraz has already given himself a actuality verify after beginning his clay-court season with a win. The Spanish famous person is defending hundreds of rating factors over the approaching weeks after a robust run on the clay final 12 months, which noticed him raise three trophies and end runner-up in Barcelona. It leaves Alcaraz locked in a fierce battle along with his biggest rival, Jannik Sinner, for the No. 1 rating, as Sinner missed the primary half of the clay swing in 2025 whereas serving a suspension.
Whereas the race for the highest spot is heating up, Alcaraz himself isn’t getting concerned. And after starting his Monte Carlo Masters title defence with a straight-set victory, he bluntly admitted: “To be trustworthy, I’m gonna lose the No. 1 of the world.”
The highest seed in Monaco received off to a quick begin, overcoming a really transient wobble within the second set to beat Sebastian Baez 6-1 6-3 in simply over an hour. It was an announcement efficiency from Alcaraz, who’s beneath lots of stress throughout this clay swing after profitable the Monte Carlo Masters, the Italian Open, and Roland Garros final 12 months.
Nevertheless, when requested whether or not he was being attentive to the battle for the No. 1 rating, Alcaraz replied: “To be trustworthy, I’m gonna lose the No. 1 of the world. I don’t know if it’s going to be on this match or the following one.
“I’m defending a bunch of factors that it’s going to be actually tough to defend all. Even when I defend them, Jannik goes so as to add some factors in these tournaments that he doesn’t must defend any factors in these tournaments.
“So I’ll attempt to play my finest, and let’s see what occurs. However clearly, after all, for me, the No. 1 just isn’t in my thoughts proper now, I’m simply attempting to really feel one of the simplest ways or pretty much as good as I can on a clay courtroom, and let’s see the way it’s going to be, the clay swing.”
Carlos Alcaraz began his Monte Carlo Masters title defence with an announcement win (Picture: Getty)
Alcaraz had some further time to organize for the clay season after struggling a shock early exit on the Miami Open final month. However the 22-year-old stunned even himself with how shortly he got here out of the blocks in opposition to Baez on Tuesday.
“It’s been nearly one 12 months because the final match that I performed on clay. To be trustworthy, I missed it. I missed getting my sneakers soiled a bit bit. It’s been a very good begin to the match for me. To be trustworthy, I stunned myself with the extent. I believed I used to be going to play a bit bit worse, I’d say,” the reigning champion defined.
“However simply proud of every part I’ve finished at this time. Possibly a few issues that I didn’t do nicely within the second set. I simply let him come once more into the match, however general, simply glad to play matches once more on clay and proud of at this time’s match.”
Alcaraz will now face both Tomas Etcheverry or Terence Atmane for a spot within the quarter-finals as he appears to defend his crown on the Monte Carlo Nation Membership. Sinner additionally received off to a quick begin within the Principality, beating Ugo Humbert 6-3 6-0 in 64 minutes.
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