Carlos Alcaraz has admitted he was relieved to get his first win in Monte-Carlo after a 3-6 6-0 6-1 win over Francisco Cerundolo.
The Spaniard had to dig deep to get his first ever win in Monaco after he lost the first set to the Argentinian.
However, Alcaraz elevated his game by an extra two levels as he only lost one game in his last two sets to prevail.
After the match Alcaraz admitted he is relieved to get his first win in Monaco and said that playing more aggressively helped him win the match, “As I said, this is a really beautiful tournament that I really want to go far, and yeah, I think this year, you know, it’s kind of relief that I got my first win,” Alcaraz explained in his press conference.
“Probably. Yeah, I’m not going to say I was nervous because of that, but yeah, it’s one of the, you know, few tournaments that I haven’t or just the only tournament that I haven’t win one match before, so it just feel great. I’m finally, you know, get my first win here and keep going.
“Well, I think I started to play more aggressively. I think the first set I just tried to get into the match, getting good pace, you know, playing or trying to play long rallies. I think I made a lot of mistakes at the beginning of the match, and I just let him dominate the game.
“So in the second set, I just wanted to play more aggressively. You know, I started to return closer to the line, just putting pressure on his serve, and trying to play as aggressive as I can. You know, as I say, the first rounds in every tournament is never easy, and then I switched to clay that a long time that I didn’t touch the clay, so it has been difficult.
“But, you know, the serves I think here is not as important as probably on grass or on hard court, so I knew that I was going to have difficulties in the serve games, and just to be calm and just keep going. So I think I did it pretty well, you know, saving the breakpoints in the first game of the second set, and after that, I think I just started to feel more comfortable and play my own tennis.”
It was an important victory for Alcaraz who has experienced inconsistent form to his standards this season and has only won one tournament so far this year.
However, Alcaraz will believe that the clay court season can help him raise his level as he searches for a fifth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros and the Spaniard explained what he loves most about the clay, “I think the tough battles, and as I say, you know, the serve is not as important probably as on hard court, so I think that’s pretty good for me.” Alcaraz explained.
“You know, I think we playing, you know, almost every point, so we can make a lot of points or free points with the serve, so that’s make develop the point even more than probably other surface. Yeah, long rallies, you know, get the socks dirty a little bit. You know, that’s what I miss, to watch good tennis.
“I think, you know, on clay you can watch the real tennis, because as I said, it’s not only watching, you know, big serves or whatever, or points, you know, and just one or two shots. On clay you see long rallies. For example, yesterday, 48 rallies. That’s what I like, watching tennis and playing here on clay.”
Alcaraz will now play Daniel Altmaier for a place in the quarter-finals with the German edging past Richard Gasquet in the second round.
