Monfils stuns Alcaraz in Cincinnati opener | ATP Tour

Cincinnati

Monfils surprises Alcaraz in his Cincinnati debut

The Spaniard is already setting his sights on the US Open

August 16, 2024

A match marked by rain, a gigantic rival and one of the biggest stages on the circuit as a platform. Gael Monfils showed his ability to perform in prime time on Friday, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to complete a big surprise in the second round of the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, who a year ago had come close to winning the title at the American ATP Masters 1000, found himself facing a difficult challenge to overcome in his first round of 2024.

Thursday had seen the electric duel break in half, with Alcaraz dominating the first set before coming up against resistance from Monfils. The Frenchman, with imperious agility at 37, had managed to tip the tie-break in the second set in his favour (3-1) before the rain forced the night to end in Ohio. With this parity of strength, both returned to the court on Friday thrown into a totally open match.

Monfils had shown absolute respect for Alcaraz before the match, placing the Spaniard on a par with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal despite his youth. The Frenchman, who compensated for the strength of the Spaniard’s strokes with his usual physical display on the court, kept his composure in a match that was heating up.

The Parisian achieved his first objective in the second set: to take advantage of his minimal advantage to grab the tie-break, force the decisive set and put the match in a one-set Russian roulette. There, the Frenchman’s versatility managed to keep the Murcian’s eyes on the present. Alcaraz, who showed obvious angry gestures on the court, was unable to recover from the only break of the third set. In that decisive set, Monfils saved the four break points on the way to one of his greatest victories in recent years.

Monfils will play the Cincinnati quarterfinals against world No. 16 Holger Rune in an unprecedented duel on the circuit. The Frenchman and Dane will open their rivalry this Friday in the match that will close the day on Center Court.

Alcaraz has arrived on the North American tour in a year marked by the Olympic Games. The Spaniard, who won the silver medal on clay at Paris 2024, withdrew from the ATP Masters 1000 in Montreal last week before making the transition to hard courts in Cincinnati. Now, the Murcia native will go to the US Open with just one match on the surface, in search of the stage where he lifted the first Grand Slam of his career in 2022.

After a stellar summer at the majors, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s protégé will have the chance to extend a year that will go down in history in men’s tennis at Flushing Meadows.

Alcaraz was competing in Cincinnati looking to cement his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for a third consecutive season. The Spaniard currently sits at No. 2 in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, a spot he could only lose to Alexander Zverev should the German win the title in Ohio.

Did you know…?
Carlos Alcaraz played the longest three-set ATP Tour final ever recorded on the Cincinnati Open courts. In the 2023 season, the Murcian battled Serbian Novak Djokovic for three hours and 49 minutes of play in an attempt to win the trophy, losing to the Balkan player a match that went down in the history of professional men’s tennis.