Alcaraz Not at His Best, But Still Too Good vs Etcheverry in Monte-Carlo

There were difficult moments for Carlos Alcaraz during Thursday’s round-of-16 clash with Tomás Martín Etcheverry, but in the end, a predictable outcome: Alcaraz overcame adversity and his own confidence issues to notch his 14th consecutive clay-court victory, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

The Spaniard, who has not lost on clay since falling to Holger Rune in last year’s Barcelona final, will face Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinals on Friday.

“Let’s see, it’s gonna be the first time we meet in an official tournament,” Alcaraz said of Bublik, who defeated Jiri Lehecka in straight sets on Thursday. “We practiced once, so it’s going to be fun to play.”

After a lopsided first set went in his favor on Thursday in Monte-Carlo — one in which World No. 1 and top seed Alcaraz made 93 percent of his first serves and won 26 of 37 points — the Spaniard suddenly found himself down a double break at 4-1 in the second set against Argentina’s Etcheverry.

At that moment, on an idyllic afternoon in the Principality — a good day for a swim in the Mediterranean, or an afternoon lounging on the deck of his new Sunreef Ultima 88 catamaran yacht — Alcaraz needed another gear.

It would prove somewhat elusive, at least for a while.

Alcaraz worked the court beautifully in the next game and angled in to slap an inside-out winner to reclaim one of the breaks. He then held for 3-4 to put some scoreboard pressure on the shoulders of the 26-year-old Argentine.

The pressure was real — so was Etcheverry’s response. The World No. 30 saved a break point and pushed through another hold, pointing to his temple as the scoreboard clicked to 5-3.

Defending Monte-Carlo champion Alcaraz was having some animated discussions with his coach, Samuel López, as he searched for solutions and looked to reassert his authority on the match.

By deuce in the ninth game of the second set, Alcaraz had committed 16 backhand unforced errors to just two for Etcheverry — too much ground to give against a determined foe like this year’s Rio Open champion.

Etcheverry closed out the set on serve, forcing a decider as another Alcaraz backhand found the net (Alcaraz finished the set with 24 unforced errors), but the mountain still stood tall in front of him. The Argentine had compiled more clay-court wins than any other player on tour this season, but he also entered Thursday’s tussle carrying an 0-18 record against Top 10 players.

“I was hitting the ball really well in the first set, hitting the ball 10 out of 10 I would say,” Alcaraz said. “In the second set I started pretty well, I had chances to break his serve in the second game but I didn’t take it… He got more confidence after that, playing more aggressive and hitting the ball better and not making that many mistakes.”

Alcaraz stitched together a pair of forehand winners in his first return game of the third set, squeezing through a four-deuce game to take a 2-0 advantage.

Even the previously missing-in-action backhand returned, as Alcaraz launched a scorcher down the line for double game point in the next game before securing the consolidation for 3-0.

He sat in his chair, pumping his fist during the changeover as if to say, “I’m back!”

Etcheverry didn’t give up the chase from there, but it felt like a new match in the third, with Alcaraz driving the catamaran and the Argentine trailing behind. A drop shot into the net gave Etcheverry a break point with Alcaraz serving at 4-2, 30-40, but when his backhand return of a second serve went wide, the window was well and truly closed.

Despite the high unforced error count (23 forehand unforced, 21 backhand unforced and three double-faults) and the disappointing second set, a strong finish leaves Alcaraz’s record at 36-2 on clay since the start of Roland Garros in 2024.

He becomes the third man to reach 20 or more Masters quarterfinals before turning 23, along with Rafael Nadal (31) and Novak Djokovic (24).