Monte Carlo witnessed high drama on Wednesday as Novak Djokovic was ousted in straight sets while Carlos Alcaraz survived a rocky start to secure his spot in the next round of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
World No. 1 Djokovic suffered a surprising 6-3, 6-4 loss to Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. Despite breaking Tabilo in the opening game, Djokovic struggled with consistency and unforced errors. Tabilo broke back immediately, then again in the sixth game, seizing control of the match and never letting go. It marked one of the biggest wins of Tabilo’s career. “A little bit of nerves were there,” he admitted. “It was an unreal match.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz overcame a shaky first set to dominate Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. The Spaniard, who had never won a match in Monte Carlo before this week, admitted his slow start: “I made a lot of mistakes and let him dominate.” But the 21-year-old flipped the script in the second and third sets, playing aggressive baseline tennis and controlling every point.
“After the first set, I knew I had to do something else,” said Alcaraz. “I had to play more aggressively and play my tennis.”
With Djokovic out and Alcaraz gaining momentum, the Monte-Carlo Masters is heating up fast in the first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 of the season.
Leave a Reply