{"id":519489,"date":"2026-04-08T12:17:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/519489\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:17:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:17:27","slug":"not-many-expectations-jannik-sinner-beats-ugo-humbert-to-begin-monte-carlo-masters-title-bid-as-carlos-alcaraz-defeats-sebastian-baez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/519489\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Not many expectations’ – Jannik Sinner beats Ugo Humbert to begin Monte Carlo Masters title bid as Carlos Alcaraz defeats Sebastian Baez"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Both are very difficult’ – Sinner compares winning ‘Sunshine Double’ to Grand Slams<\/p>\n

Video credit: SNTV<\/p>\n

Jannik Sinner<\/a> cruised into the round of 16 at the Monte Carlo Masters<\/a> with a 6-3 6-0 victory over world No. 34 Ugo Humbert.It was an impressive start to the clay swing for Sinner, who can replace Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> as world No. 1 if he wins a first Monte Carlo Masters.Sinner is in ominous form as the French Open<\/a> – shown live on TNT Sports and HBO Max<\/a> – draws nearer.Back-to-back tournament victories saw him win the ‘Sunshine Double’ <\/a>of Indian Wells<\/a> and the Miami Open<\/a>, and he picked up where he left off against Humbert.<\/p>\n

\u201dIt was a good performance from my side,” Sinner said. \u201dYou have to change your game style a little bit, how you approach certain situations. The first tournament [on clay] is never easy. <\/p>\n

“I come here with good feelings but at the same time not many expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"picture\"<\/p>\n

Highlights: Sinner overcomes Medvedev to win maiden Indian Wells title<\/p>\n

Video credit: SNTV<\/p>\n

Sinner took just 64 minutes to win his first match on clay since his French Open final defeat to Alcaraz<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

It was an emphatic victory for the Italian, whose opponent managed to win just six points in a one-sided second set.<\/p>\n

The first set was more competitive, but Sinner broke Humbert’s serve in the fifth game and there was no way back for the Frenchman.<\/p>\n

Sinner, who is now on a run of 18 straight wins in Masters 1000 events, will face either Francisco Cerundolo or Tomas Machac in the next round.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz ‘surprised’ by level of performance in win over Baez<\/p>\n

Alcaraz admitted he expected to “play a little bit worse” in his opening match against Sebastian Baez in Monte Carlo.<\/p>\n

The defending champion was superior throughout his 6-1 6-3 win over the Argentine, who was beaten in 70 minutes.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz has established himself as clay’s standout player, with a record of 22-1 on the surface last season.<\/p>\n

He will hope for more success this year, particularly with Sinner threatening to take his place at the top of the ATP rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201dIt\u2019s been a really good start to the tournament for me,\u201d Alcaraz said.<\/p>\n

\u201dTo be honest, I surprised myself with the level. I thought I was going to play a little bit worse, I would say, but I\u2019m just happy with everything I\u2019ve done today. <\/p>\n

“Maybe a couple of things I didn\u2019t do well in the second set. I let him get into the match, but overall, I\u2019m just happy to play matches again on clay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcaraz insisted he is relaxed about the rankings, adding: \u201dI\u2019m going to lose No. 1 in the world [at some point]. I don\u2019t know if it is going to be at this tournament or [another] one. <\/p>\n

\u201dI\u2019m defending a bunch of points that are going to be really difficult to defend. Even if I defend them, Jannik is going to add some points. <\/p>\n

“I will just try to play my best and let\u2019s see what happens, but for me the No. 1 spot is not in my mind right now. I\u2019m just trying to feel the best way on clay courts and let\u2019s see how the clay swing goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spaniard will face either Tomas Martin Etcheverry or Terence Atmane in the next round in Monte Carlo.<\/p>\n

TNT Sports is the exclusive French Open broadcaster in the UK and Ireland. Coverage of every court will be available to watch live on HBO Max<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Both are very difficult’ – Sinner compares winning ‘Sunshine Double’ to Grand Slams Video credit: SNTV Jannik Sinner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[175521,101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-519489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-monte-carlo-mens-singles-2026","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-tennis","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}