Statement Start: Alcaraz Opens MC Title Defense With Commanding Win
By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Photo credit: ROLEX Monte-Carlo Masters Facebook
Stalking the baseline, Carlos Alcaraz launched a rocket forehand that lit up the red clay and blew up Sebastian Baez’s serve.
Unleashing the element of explosive surprise to his Monte-Carlo return, an assertive Alcaraz made a statement start.
Defending champion Alcaraz stormed through nine of the first 10 games dismissing Baez 6-1, 6-3 to score his sixth straight Monte-Carlo win.
Alcaraz slashed his sixth ace to end his Monte-Carlo return with a declarative bang.
“It’s been almost a year since I last played on clay and, to be honest, I missed it,” Alcaraz said afterward. “I even wanted to get my socks a little dirty. It has been a very good start to the tournament for me.
“The truth is that I was surprised by my level. I thought I was going to play a little worse, but I’m happy with everything I did today. Maybe there were a couple of things in the second set that I didn’t do quite right, although I didn’t allow the opponent to come back into the match. In general, I am very happy to compete again on clay and satisfied with today’s match.”
After a disappointing Sunshine Double that saw Daniil Medvedev shatter Alcaraz’s undefeated season in Indian Wells and Sebastian Korda shock the Spaniard in Miami, the world No. 1 arrives in Monte-Carlo aiming to defend his title—and retain the top spot.
Jannik Sinner preceded Alcaraz on Court Rainier III and stretched his streak of Masters 1000 masters. Sinner slammed Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-0 in a 64-minute thrashing to score his 18th straight win at the ATP Masters 1000 level and extend his record run of 36 consecutive sets in Masters 1000 play.
Second-ranked Sinner starts this week in Monte-Carlo knowing he can only gain ranking points—and regain world No. 1 by taking Alcaraz’s title. Alcaraz arrives in Monte-Carlo armed with 13,590 ranking points, but he’s defending 1,000 points from his run to the 2025 Monte-Carlo championship. Sinner, who holds 12,400 points, is defending nothing in the Principality and can rise back to No. 1 winning his maiden Monte-Carlo crown.
Moving fluidly and playing quickly, Alcaraz commanded the clay firing his forehand with menace to register his 14th consecutive clay-court win—a superb streak that includes his clay-court championships at the 2025 Rome and Roland Garros, where he saved championship points out-dueling Jannik Sinner in a classic French Open final.
This was Alcaraz’s first foray onto red clay since he summoned the brilliance to stun Sinner in Paris. Crushing heavy forehands, Alcaraz hammered his way to two straight breaks and a 5-1 lead against Baez.
The top-seeded Spaniard won 15 of 22 points played on Baez’s second serve, converted five of 10 break points and terrorized the Argentinean’s serve for a set-and-a-half.
Alcaraz scored the love break closing a commanding 26-minute opening set that left Baez, an accomplished clay-court player, looking utterly befuddled.
Alcaraz won nine of the first 10 games before his level dipped and Baez brightened.
Playing higher forehands to try to move the world No. 1 back, Baez drew a netted reply converting his third break point to break back for 3-4.
Stepping into the court, Alcaraz crushed a clean crosscourt forehand winner breaking right back for 5-3. Alcaraz stamped a love hold sealing a 69-minute win.
Looking comfortable in his clay court return, Alcaraz will play either Argentinean Tomas Martin Etcheverry or French left-hander Terence Atmane in the round of 16.
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