Novak Djokovic’s woes continued with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Alejandro Tabilo in round two of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Wednesday. Tabilo improved to 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series, having also stunned Djokovic at the 2024 Rome Masters.
“It has been a tough year, so a little bit of the nerves were there,” the Chilean said. “I remembered last time what I did well and thankfully I served well today and it helped me a lot. It was an unreal match.”
Earlier in the day, Alcaraz avoided a similar fate to that of Djokovic–but not before starting very slow. The third-ranked Spaniard eventually found his game and knocked off Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 in only one hour and 38 minutes.
“I didn’t start well,” Alcaraz noted. “I made a lot of mistakes and I let him play inside the court, dominating the points. I just knew that I had to do something else, play more aggressively, and play my own tennis–drop-shots, going to the net, and more aggression. The most important change was the return, I tried to return closer to the line and push him.”
It was a much-needed result for the 21-year-old, who was coming off losses in Indian Wells (to Jack Draper in the semifinals) and Miami (to David Goffin in the second round).
Tabilo and Alcaraz are joined in the third round by Andrey Rublev, who battled past Gael Monfils 6-4, 7-6(2). Monfils served for the second set but failed to convert any of four set points. It was Rublev’s first match with coach Marat Safin in his box, and the ninth-ranked Russian will now face Arthur Fils.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.