Inconsistent Carlos Alcaraz downs Arthur Fils to advance into Monte Carlo last four

MONTE CARLO – Carlos Alcaraz huffed and puffed into the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory against Arthur Fils, who will be ruing his missed chances on April 11.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz was made to sweat by the world No. 15 Frenchman but made the most of his opponent’s errors at the key moments to set up a semi-final against fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

“I just wanted to stay strong and wait for my chances,” said the 21-year-old Alcaraz. “I think his level is high right now and he puts a lot of pressure on his opponents. In the third set I was just trying to play good tennis. When I was a break down I just tried to keep going and play aggressively and be strong mentally and physically.” 

Fils made a blistering start against the world No. 3, surging to a 3-0 lead with two early breaks before seeing out the opening set.

Alcaraz levelled the tie in the second set as Fils squandered seven break points. In the decider, the inconsistent Spaniard dropped serve early on in the roller-coaster match before he found his groove to seal the win, much to the frustration of Fils.

World No. 42 Davidovich Fokina advanced to the April 12 semi-finals by swatting aside Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2 in the earlier match.

In another match, Alex de Minaur produced a ruthless performance to dismantle an out-of-sorts Grigor Dimitrov 6-0, 6-0 in just 45 minutes, with the match finishing to a backdrop of boos from the crowd.

De Minaur will next face the winner of the last quarter-final between reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, which ended after press time.

Off the court, Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) chief Ahmad Nassar welcomed the demand by the world’s top-ranked players for higher prize money at the Grand Slams, and believes the move is a direct consequence of the advocacy group’s calls for change.

The PTPA filed a class-action lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies in March calling for reforms. That was followed by a letter from the top-20 ATP and WTA players seeking a bigger slice of the pie from the four Majors.

Although the PTPA was not a signatory to the letter, Nassar said more pressure on the system was appreciated.

“It didn’t come out of nowhere. It was a direct response to the threat of our lawsuit, and it’s not coming from a different place, it’s coming from the players,” Nassar told Reuters via video call from New York.

“So the source of all of this is the same... There are 500 singles players, another 100-200 doubles players from all parts of the globe, so attacking this from different angles is a good thing, not a bad thing. It’s more pressure on the system... I viewed it as another piece of affirmation that we’re on the right track, and clearly, the players care.”

The French Open and the US Open confirmed to Reuters that they had received the letter and welcomed conversations with the players ahead of Roland Garros, which will begin in May.

Nassar said the PTPA, which filed its lawsuit in New York, London and Brussels against the ATP, the WTA, the International Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Integrity Agency, was focused on delivering major structural reforms.

He also added that the PTPA did not want its lawsuit – which says the governing bodies indulge in anti-competitive practices and disregard player welfare – to end in a trial many years later after millions of dollars have been spent. Instead, the PTPA executive director is calling for cooler heads to prevail and for the focus to be on solutions. AFP, REUTERS