Carlos Alcaraz eases into Monte Carlo quarter-finals, Jack Draper out
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Spain's Carlos Alcaraz reacting after a point as he plays against Daniel Altmaier of Germany during the Monte Carlo Masters round-of-16 match on April 10.
PHOTO: AFP
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MONTE CARLO – Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals for the first time on April 10 with a straight-set victory over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz brushed aside the 84th-ranked Altmaier 6-3, 6-1 to set up a last-eight clash with rising French star Arthur Fils on April 11.
Alcaraz took some time to find his rhythm as Altmaier broke him back to level at 3-3 in the first set, but it was one-way traffic from then on.
The second seed reeled off three straight games to take the first set before racing through the second in just over 30 minutes.
The 21-year-old, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, is the favourite to lift the title this weekend after early exits for top seed Alexander Zverev and veteran Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz was beaten in his first match on his only previous appearance at the tournament in 2022.
Fils eased into his third successive Masters quarter-finals this season with an impressive 6-2, 6-3 win over 2023 champion Andrey Rublev of Russia.
The 20-year-old is aiming to reach the semis of a Masters event for the first time, after losing in the last eight at both Indian Wells and the Miami Open in 2025.
On meeting Alcaraz next, Fils said: “It’s going to be the first time I’m going to play him. It’s going to be a good experience.
“He’s a big champion. He won four Grand Slams already. I didn’t win a single one.”
Earlier, Alcaraz’s compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also progressed to the next round after ousting fifth seed Jack Draper.
The Briton, who won the Indian Wells title in March, slipped to a 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 loss as he struggled with his serve, producing 10 double-faults as he failed to reach a first Masters quarter-final on clay.
Davidovich Fokina will take on Alexei Popyrin in the last eight on April 11, after the Australian overcame Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
The Spanish world No. 42 is into the Monaco quarter-final for the third time, with his best performance a run to the 2022 final which included a shock victory over Djokovic.
Davidovich Fokina edged out Draper in a hard-fought opening set which featured three breaks of serve.
The players traded breaks in the second set before Draper saved a match point en route to levelling the contest in a tiebreak. But the Briton, playing in the third round of a Masters tournament on clay for the first time, slipped 2-0 behind early in the decider.
It proved to be a topsy-turvy third set, though, with the pair both broken twice inside the first six games. Davidovich Fokina delivered the decisive blow in the 10th game to secure his first win over a top-10 opponent on clay since 2023 despite making 57 unforced errors to Draper’s 46.
Meanwhile, the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China, have been brought forward from November to September, organisers announced on April 10.
The Sept 16-21 event had already been reduced from 12 teams to eight, aligning with the men’s Davis Cup Finals.
Qualifiers for the Finals started on April 10, with teams fighting for six tickets to China to join the hosts and defending champions Italy.
Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina put Kazakhstan on course for the Finals, helping her country take down Australia in a qualifying tie.
The world No. 10 battled past Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, rallying from 3-1 down in the first set and 5-1 behind in the second.
It gave Kazakhstan an unsurmountable 2-0 lead after world No. 23 Yulia Putintseva outclassed teenager Maya Joint 6-2, 6-1 in just 74 minutes in the opening tie.
AFP, REUTERS
