Carlos Alcaraz turns up the aggression for comeback win over Francisco Cerundolo in Monte Carlo

MONTE CARLO – World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz recovered from going a set down to notch his maiden win at the Monte Carlo Masters, beating Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 in the second round on April 9.

The 21-year-old Spaniard’s adjustment to a more aggressive return position after the first set was key, as he recorded a 44 per cent increase in first-serve returns landed.

“I didn’t start well. I made a lot of mistakes and I let him play inside the court, dominating the points,” said Alcaraz, who improved to 16-4 in 2025 after the 1hr 37min comeback win.

“I just knew that I had to do something else, play more aggressively and play my own tennis – drop shots, going to the net and more aggression.

“The most important change was the return, I tried to return closer to the line and push him.”

This is the first time since the Australian Open in January that Argentinian world No. 22 Cerundolo has not advanced to at least the quarter-finals, having done so at his past five tournaments.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic’s ouster was the biggest shock among the other last-32 matches on April 9. The world No. 5 crashed out when he lost his opening second-round match 6-3, 6-4 to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.

The 37-year-old, who is chasing his 100th ATP Tour title, has not won a tournament since taking gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

He went into the tournament hampered by an eye infection that has been troubling him since the semi-finals in Miami at the end of March and admitting that he did not have “very high” expectations for Monte Carlo.

As it transpired, a sluggish performance meant that Tabilo, who also beat Djokovic on clay at the 2024 Rome Masters, faced few difficulties in claiming a rare 2-0 head-to-head record against the 24-time Grand Slam winner.

Russia’s seventh seed Andrey Rublev beat Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). Fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils fared better, with the 12th seed seeing off Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2, 6-4.

Italian Lorenzo Musetti, meanwhile, bounced back from a poor first set to beat Czech Jiri Lehecka 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.

In overnight action, top seed Alexander Zverev crashed out in his opening match on April 8, falling to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini as defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and Britain’s Jack Draper both advanced.

World No. 2 Zverev has struggled for any kind of form since his defeat by Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final at the end of January, winning just six of 12 matches.

His loss means the Italian will return to the ATP Tour from his doping ban at May’s Rome Masters as world No. 1.

After a controlled start to the game, Zverev slumped to a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat by 34th-ranked Berrettini, at the end of a high-flying match, which had included an impressive 48-stroke rally won by the Italian.

“It’s been the worst period since my injury (the) last few months,” said the German, who has suffered a string of early exits of late, including at Indian Wells.

“I played a great first set and once I got broken in the second set, I play 10 levels down. My ball is much slower. I stop hitting the ball.

“I thought my level was terrible.”

Three-time Monte Carlo winner Tsitsipas advanced past 38th-ranked Australian Jordan Thompson 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in his second-round tie.

Indian Wells champion Draper, seeded fifth, eased past 45th-ranked American Marcos Giron 6-1, 6-1.

Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Dinara Safina has followed her brother Marat Safin into coaching, with the 38-year-old joining the team of fellow Russian Diana Shnaider ahead of the clay-court season.

Shnaider, the world No. 13, will look to build on her breakthrough 2024 season, in which she won four WTA Tour singles titles and the Paris Olympics silver medal in doubles with Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.

“I’m excited to announce that Dinara Safina is joining my team as my new coach,” the 21-year-old Shnaider said on Instagram.

“The past few months, I’ve been searching for a partnership like this that I’m confident will be great for me both on and off the court.

“Dinara is obviously a legend, and I’m thrilled to see what we can do together.”

Shnaider will play her first clay tournament of the season in Stuttgart next week.

Three-time Grand Slam runner-up Safina played her last match in 2011 and officially retired three years later after struggling with injuries.

Her foray into coaching comes shortly after her brother and fellow former world No. 1 Safin began his partnership with the ninth-ranked Rublev. REUTERS, AFP