Carlos Alcaraz Clinches Victory Over Gael Monfils to Advance in Miami Open 2024
Carlos Alcaraz showcased his dominance at the Miami Open, securing a decisive 6-2, 6-4 victory against veteran Gael Monfils.
The 37-year-old Monfils was handling the gifted Spaniard’s power play quite well until he suffered an ankle injury in the fifth game.
At Hard Rock Stadium on Monday, top seed Carlos Alcaraz defeated French veteran Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4 to go to the Miami Open’s fourth round. The 37-year-old Monfils was handling the gifted Spaniard’s power play quite well until he suffered an ankle injury in the fifth game.
Even though Monfils persevered valiantly and forced some amazing defensive plays out of Alcaraz, the world number two proved to be too strong for the Parisian.
Alcaraz let off the gas and Monfils broke for the first time to cut the deficit to 5-3 as the result seemed like a formality.
After that, Monfils held his serve with a brilliant cross-court winner, and Alcaraz completed the match to secure a spot in the fourth round, where he will play either Ben Shelton or Lorenzo Musetti.
“He’s a great athlete,” Alcaraz remarked of Monfils. “I had to be patient, but at the same time, try to move him around the court, to get him tired a little bit and give myself the chance to dominate the point, get to the net, and hit my best shot.” Monfils reads almost every ball, so Alcaraz observed. “That’s what I was trying to do in the match and it worked pretty well,” he stated.
Earlier, American Christopher Eubanks was tested carefully by fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev, who prevailed 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
When Eubanks was serving for the set at 5-3, Zverev made a critical break. He then broke early in the second set to go up 3-0 and win the match.
“He didn’t offer me any opportunities to be confrontational; he came out swinging. Zverev remarked, “I tried to mix it up from the baseline.”
“His skill at playing from the baseline caught me off guard since I didn’t see many unintentional mistakes. He normally misses a lot but makes a lot too, but today he didn’t miss, especially in the early going of the first set,” he continued.
Australian Alex De Minaur advanced after defeating Germany’s 24th-seeded Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7/3), 6-4. De Minaur, who is having a tremendous tournament, will play Fabian Marozsan in the following round after the Hungarian defeated Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 6-3.
