{"id":95754,"date":"2026-04-07T15:14:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montecarlotennismasters.com\/?p=95754"},"modified":"2026-04-07T15:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:24:00","slug":"alcaraz-keeping-pace-with-sinner-enjoys-strong-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montecarlotennismasters.com\/en\/alcaraz-keeping-pace-with-sinner-enjoys-strong-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Alcaraz, Keeping Pace With Sinner, Enjoys Strong Win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Carlos Alcaraz wasn\u2019t about to let Jannik Sinner take even the slightest mental edge as their battle for World No. 1 got underway Tuesday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.<\/p>\n<p>Having seen his rival drop just three games to beat Ugo Humbert in 64 minutes, Alcaraz was essentially as efficient in his 6-1, 6-3 victory over Argentine Sebastian Baez, closing out the contest in 69 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The defending champion raced to a 3-0 lead after just 12 minutes, cracking a 114mph forehand crosscourt winner that left fans gobsmacked.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Full throttle tennis \ud83d\ude05<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/carlosalcaraz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@carlosalcaraz<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/RolexMonteCarloMasters?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#RolexMonteCarloMasters<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EwwFOuvK0I\">pic.twitter.com\/EwwFOuvK0I<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (@ROLEXMCMASTERS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ROLEXMCMASTERS\/status\/2041488094306689257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>His only blemish came midway through the second set. On track for a sub-one-hour victory, Alcaraz was broken when leading 4-2 but quickly steadied to win his 14th consecutive match on clay, dating back to his titles in 2025 in Rome and Roland Garros.<\/p>\n<p>Should Alcaraz and Sinner meet in the final, the champion will emerge No. 1 on Monday. Both players have spent 66 weeks in top spot throughout their careers.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xnvCJem1B0M?si=1HsNJ370KG7H4fxT\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s been almost one year since the last time I played on clay,\u201d Alcaraz said. \u201cTo be honest, I missed it. I missed getting myself dirty a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s been a really good start of the tournament for me. To be honest, I surprised myself with the level&#8230; I was happy with everything I&#8217;ve done today, except for maybe letting him back into the match in the second set.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defending champion drops just four games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classifiee-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Carlos Alcaraz Matches Jannik Sinner With Sharp Monte-Carlo Opening Win<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Carlos Alcaraz wasn\u2019t about to let Jannik Sinner take even the slightest mental edge as their battle for 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