“My best match of the tournament” – Alcaraz hits peak form at right time in Monte-Carlo
The Spaniard was delighted to have overcome some of his recent demons when he qualified for the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters
Carlos Alcaraz, Monte-Carlo, 2025
Carlos Alcaraz will have breathed a huge sigh of relief after reaching the Monte-Carlo Masters final. He will play for the title for the first time in Monaco following his victory against his friend Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (7-6(2), 6-4). Above all, he has regained power and bite in his game.
“I’m just going to say that I’m happy to have found this level, but I also know that I can play even better,” the world No 3 told the press after his win.
“I had to adapt to the conditions for this first clay court tournament at the beginning of the week, but I was already very satisfied to find the level of play I wanted quickly. And then, we had to keep improving. I hope to be even better in the final now.”
On Saturday, he also took satisfaction from not letting his friendship with Davidovich Fokina get in the way.
“Maybe I could play more calmly because I know his game very well and can sometimes predict what he’s going to do,” he went on.
“But on the other hand, it’s difficult because we’re really good friends and it can be complicated to manage in the semi-finals of a Masters 1000. So I’m glad I managed to block our friendship in order to be a little selfish.”
There is something else that Alcaraz should have managed to block in recent weeks, the suspension of Jannik Sinner and the opening to the No 1 ranking that chance represented.
“A lot of people were talking to me about it and in a way I thought about it way too much instead of playing my game and having fun in matches,” he said.
“So after Miami, I understood what I had to do: not think about the results, think about nothing but enjoy playing tennis. That’s the most important thing for me, not to listen to all the expectations that people have of me.”
