Carlos Alcaraz is expected to fly to Moncao on Saturday to start his clay court campaign for 2025 and he could not have been handed a tougher task after the draw was made for the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Alcaraz has a big chance to make a leap up the ATP Rankings over the next few weeks as he missed last year’s Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open due to injury.
With 1,500 ranking points up for grabs in those events, he will be keen to make a big impression during the clay court season, but the No 2 see in Monte-Carlo has been handed arguably the toughest draw possible.
Assuming Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo comes through his first round match against Italian veteran Fabio Fognini, he will face Alcaraz in the second round and that would be a huge test for the reigning French Open champion in his opening clay court match of the year.
World No 23 Cerundolo is a clay court specialist and he confirmed he is in prime form after wins against Tommy Paul and Casper Ruud at last month’s Miami Open.
He beat Alex de Minaur at the Indian Wells Masters, also played last month, and pushed Alcaraz close in their quarter-final match in that tournament.
Playing the Spaniard on clay may appeal to Cerundolo after he reached the final of a clay court event in his Argentine homeland in February and also played clay court events in Bazil and Rio earlier this year.
If Alcaraz was to get through a potential clash with Cerundolo, he would face another dangerous clay courter in Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who took at set off him when they met in Indian Wells last month.
Casper Ruud is another dangerous opponent in Alcaraz’s half of the draw, with the Spaniard looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat in his opening match at the Miami Open last month.
The four-time Grand Slam champion was brutally honest when he assessed his mood after that match, as he suggested he needed to reset his focus heading into the clay court swing on the ATP Tour.
More Tennis News
Carlos Alcaraz following in famous footsteps with choice of clay court training base
“It was a poor level from me,” said Alcaraz after losing to David Goffin in Miami.
“I just wanted to play better. After the first set, I thought I was going to be better. He played well, he played good tennis. My level didn’t increase. I think his level after the first set increased a little bit.
“I didn’t play well, physically I didn’t feel well. When you don’t have the confidence in your level physically, I think it’s really tough to maintain good tennis.
“I didn’t feel well in my legs. I wasn’t injured, I wasn’t sick. I was feeling perfect before the match.
“I felt good, a little bit nervous, which is normal before the match. But nothing more than that. I just felt ready, I thought that I was going to play really good tennis. It didn’t happen.”
Tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who worked with tennis legend Serena Williams and is currently coaching four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, admitted he was surprises to hear Alcaraz admit publicly that he is struggling with his focus as it could boost his potential rivals.
“It was a choice for him to say that. I don’t know if it was good or not,” Mouratoglou told Tennis365 as he released his new book Champion Mindset. “If it helps him to take it out of his system to say it, to admit it, why not?
“Most other players would not say it, that is his choice. We will see how he plays now after he has said this. We will see if he feels less pressure now that he has said this, that he admitted his weakness of that moment.
“Maybe the fact that he verbalised it will put more pressure on him, we’ll see. It is unusual to hear this.
“I don’t know if this is a Spanish thing, but I remember that Rafa had a period in his career when he was losing a lot of matches and he was saying that he kind of lost his mental strength, he admitted it.
“I was very surprised when he said this, actually, but then he came back to his true self and it shows that even the great players go through doubts at some points.
“It was the same when I started with Serena. She had not won a Grand Slam for three years, she lost in the first round of Roland Garros and it was a difficult moment. Everyone goes through this at some point in their lives and their career.”
READ NEXT: Patrick Mouratoglou admits Carlos Alcaraz’s ‘unusual’ comments may come back to haunt him
The post Carlos Alcaraz rankings target takes as hit as he is handed nightmare Monte-Carlo Masters draw appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply