{"id":597591,"date":"2026-04-11T18:54:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T18:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/597591\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T18:54:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T18:54:20","slug":"no-one-wanted-this-match-more-than-they-did-why-alcaraz-and-sinner-needed-the-monte-carlo-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/597591\/","title":{"rendered":"No one wanted this match more than they did \u2013 why Alcaraz and Sinner needed the Monte-Carlo final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experience teaches us that the five weeks separating Monte-Carlo<\/a> from Roland-Garros<\/a> are more than enough for form to shift dramatically. Whatever the outcome of Sunday\u2019s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner<\/a> at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, scheduled for 3pm CET, there will be little point in anointing an artificial favourite for the second Grand Slam of the year. Plenty of water \u2014 or rather crushed clay, and incidentally two more Masters 1000 events \u2014 will have flowed under the bridge by then.<\/p>\n

This final has enough ingredients to tantalise before a single ball is struck. The world number one ranking is on the line, which was far from a foregone conclusion two months ago when Alcaraz was coming off his Australian Open title<\/a>, making him the winner of three of the last four Grand Slams.<\/p>\n

Even less so when, beaten in Doha by Jakub Mensik<\/a>, Sinner appeared to be weighed down by the loss of confidence that followed his Melbourne semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic. After retreating to California to put in the hard yards, the Italian has rediscovered his confidence, his power, and that indestructible quality that defines him when what he calls his \u201cpuzzle\u201d is fully assembled.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like a wall,\u201d was Alexander Zverev\u2019s verdict after the drubbing he received in the semi-finals \u2013 a summary that still does not quite do justice to the Italian\u2019s extraordinary first set.<\/p>\n

A long time coming<\/p>\n

At Indian Wells and Miami, Alcaraz\u2019s unexpected defeats to Medvedev (semi-final) and Korda (third round) made a meeting between the two giants of men\u2019s tennis impossible; and so the inevitable has arrived at their fifth shared draw. The anticipation surrounding this final echoes, in some ways, the excitement that built ahead of the Rome final in 2025 \u2013 itself coming after seven and a half months without a competitive encounter between the two (including three months of Sinner\u2019s suspension).<\/p>\n

Setting aside that suspension, and the exhibition match in Korea in January, you have to go all the way back to the stretch between the 2021 Paris Masters and Wimbledon 2022 for a comparable gap. A different era entirely.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\"JannikJannik Sinner, Monte-Carlo 2026 | \u00a9 Chrysl\u00e8ne Caillaud, PsNewz<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was good for me, before Paris, to play against him at least once \u2013 to see where my level is on this surface and where I need to improve,\u201d Sinner said after his semi-final. \u201cI hope it will give me good feedback. Whatever happens, win or lose, it will be a useful reference point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 2025, Sinner has made a conscious effort to inject more creativity and unpredictability into his game. Monte-Carlo has offered glimpses of that evolution, most notably through a more frequent use of the drop shot. It is one of the key tactical subplots heading into Sunday. \u201cI\u2019ve been watching his matches throughout the whole tournament \u2013 I know what he\u2019s been working on, what he\u2019s been improving,\u201d Alcaraz confirmed. \u201cAnd broadly speaking, I know what he does very well. This will be our 17th meeting, so I know him pretty well. I\u2019ll sit down with Samuel (Lopez), we\u2019ll prepare accordingly, but I can\u2019t give anything away on tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n

3-1 to Alcaraz on clay<\/p>\n

The clay court setting adds an obvious layer of intrigue, with the Spaniard on his favourite surface. He has won the last three meetings between the two on clay \u2013 at Roland-Garros in 2024 and 2025, and in Rome in 2025. Sinner\u2019s final victory at Umag in 2022 belongs to another era and can hardly serve as a meaningful benchmark. Alcaraz was ranked fifth in the world at the time, Sinner tenth.<\/p>\n

In Turin, ahead of the 2025 ATP Finals, Alcaraz had declared Sinner the favourite given the indoor conditions \u2014 where the Italian has been utterly dominant for two years, as he duly confirmed the following day in the final. He does not deny that clay gives him an edge on paper, but stops short of casting himself as the overwhelming favourite. \u201cJannik has said himself that clay is not his favourite surface,\u201d Alcaraz notes. \u201cHis game, I\u2019d say, suits other surfaces much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can lose to Jannik on any surface, in any tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the level he plays at on clay is very high. The fact that he\u2019s more comfortable on hard courts or grass doesn\u2019t mean he plays poorly on clay. I feel more at home there because of the way I play \u2013 it comes more naturally to me. But I can lose to Jannik on any surface, in any tournament. I need to play my best tennis if I want to beat him. Against him, there\u2019s never really a favourite. It all comes down to who plays better on the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last time Carlos produced his best tennis was probably in the Australian Open final against Novak Djokovic, or during his demolition of Casper Ruud five weeks ago at Indian Wells. And of course, he retains that rare ability to conjure the most outrageous shots at the most critical moments \u2014 the very reason he was able to win the 2025 Roland-Garros final while saving three match points.<\/p>\n

\"JannikJannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, Roland-Garros 2025 | \u00a9 Michtof \/ Psnewz<\/p>\n

This potential classic will linger long in the memory. Those who know their tennis history are aware that only five times in forty years have Monte-Carlo and Roland-Garros produced the same two finalists. Just once did the Monaco champion fail to go on and win in Paris \u2014 Lendl took the title in Monte-Carlo before Wilander claimed Roland-Garros in 1985. Nadal and Federer then dominated both events three years running, from 2006 to 2008, the Spaniard winning each time. In 2012, Nadal completed the same double against Djokovic. Players at this level don\u2019t believe in omens. Normally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Experience teaches us that the five weeks separating Monte-Carlo from Roland-Garros are more than enough for form to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":{"0":"post-597591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}