Alcaraz Begins Defense of Monte-Carlo Title with Quick Win

Carlos Alcaraz launched his title defense at the Monte-Carlo Masters with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over Sebastian Baez in the second round on Tuesday in Monaco, hardly making any mistakes throughout the 70-minute match.

'This is a great start to the tournament for me,' Alcaraz said, as quoted from ATP.

'Honestly, I was surprised by my level of play. I thought I would play a bit worse, but I'm happy with everything I did today.'

'Maybe there were a few things I didn't do well in the second set. I let him get into the match, but overall, I'm happy to have played another match on clay,' the 22-year-old tennis player said.

Competing on clay for the first time since his dramatic win in the Roland Garros final against Jannik Sinner last July, the world No. 1 broke Baez's serve five times and only lost his own serve once.

Alcaraz is seeking to replicate his outstanding clay-court season in 2025, when he posted a 22-1 win-loss record on the surface.

This week in Monte-Carlo, he is also competing with the awareness that his heavy rival Sinner has a chance to replace him as the world's No. 1 tennis player next Monday.

'I will lose the No. 1 ranking someday. I don't know if it will happen at this tournament or another,' Alcaraz said.

'I have a lot of points that will be very difficult to defend. Even if I manage to defend them, Jannik will add some points.'

'I will just try to play as well as I can and let's see what happens, but for me, the No. 1 position is not on my mind right now,' the Spanish tennis player said.

'I'm just trying to feel my best on clay and let's see how the clay-court season goes.'

After losing two of his last three matches leading up to Monte-Carlo, Alcaraz could hardly have done more against the 65th-ranked Baez to show that he is still in top form.

He used his powerful forehand to dominate the rallies from the start and won 83% (25/30) of the points behind his first serve, according to ATP statistics.

He now has an 18-2 record for the season, including titles at the Australian Open and in Doha.

Alcaraz's next challenge at the Monte-Carlo Country Club is a third-round match against either Argentine tennis player Tomas Martin Etcheverry or French player Terence Atmane.

Alcaraz has never faced either of his potential opponents before.