Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz beat Francisco Cerundolo to secure his maiden Monte Carlo win.
According to Tennis, Alcaraz on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, made an aggressive comeback against Cerundolo to win the opening round match of Monte Carlo and to qualify for the round of 16.
After struggling in the first set, the world No. 3 made a much-needed comeback, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1, to earn his career's first-ever win in Monte Carlo.
The four-time Grand Slam winner also accepted that he made lots of mistakes, saying, “I didn’t start well, I made a lot of mistakes and let him play inside the court and dominate the points. After the first set, I just knew that I had to do something else."
“(I have to) play more aggressively and play my own tennis: drop shots, going to the net and more aggression. The most important change was the return. I tried to return closer to the line and push him," he added.
The 21-year-old who wrote “I missed clay” on the ATP’s camera lens afterward has won Roland Garros and a Paris Olympic silver medal at the same venue last year. During 2024 he won 12 out of 13 singles matches on the clay.
Alcaraz will now meet German qualifier Daniel Altmaier in a third-round meeting on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
