Carlos Alcaraz said he was surprised Jannik Sinner chose to play the Monte Carlo Masters after a demanding run through Indian Wells, Miami and the rest of the hard-court tour, even as both men opened with straight-sets wins on Tuesday. Alcaraz beat 65th-ranked Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-3 at the Monte Carlo Country Club, while Sinner routed world No 34 Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-0.
Alcaraz, the top seed and defending champion after winning his maiden title in the Principality last year, said the quick shift from the hard courts to clay was what caught his attention. There was only about one week between the last day in Miami and the first day in Monte Carlo, he said, adding that Sinner had come through a long swing, with different time zones, different surfaces and different balls.
“Honestly, I was surprised that Jannik, after Indian Wells, Miami, and the whole tour, came to Monte Carlo to play,” Alcaraz said, saying the showing pointed to the physical condition Sinner is in right now. He said it looked as if players are often guessing which tournaments others will choose, and that Sinner had adapted quickly to a new surface. “But we could see that he’s playing doubles, he played great today,” Alcaraz said.
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The 2026 Monte Carlo Masters is the season’s first clay-court Masters 1000 event, and Sinner’s form has only sharpened the spotlight on the No 2 seed. He has won 13 straight matches and 26 consecutive sets, a run that includes titles at Indian Wells and Miami in March, when he completed the Sunshine Double. That makes the Italian’s decision to enter Monte Carlo less a routine stop than a test of how far his current level can travel.
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For Alcaraz, the result is a clean start to his title defense; for Sinner, it is another convincing step in a stretch that has made every tournament choice look deliberate. The next question is not whether either man can survive the opening days in Monte Carlo. It is whether anyone else on clay can slow the two players already setting the pace.
