Carlos Alcaraz began his Monte Carlo Masters title defense with a straight-sets victory over Sebastian Baez in the round of 32. The Spaniard acknowledged in an on-court interview that he expects to lose his world No. 1 position to Jannik Sinner during the clay season. Sinner, trailing by 1,190 points, also advanced with a straight-sets win over Ugo Humbert.
Alcaraz, the top seed and defending champion, comfortably defeated clay specialist Sebastian Baez on April 7 at the Monte-Carlo Masters. This win came after a challenging Sunshine Double, where he lost a 16-match streak to Daniil Medvedev in Indian Wells semifinals and exited early in Miami. The victory sets the stage for his clay-court campaign ahead of major points defenses at Monte Carlo, Rome, and Roland Garros from last year, totaling 4,000 points at stake there alone, plus 330 from Barcelona final. Alcaraz was candid post-match. “To be honest, I’m gonna lose the World No. 1 spot. I don’t know if it’s going to be in this tournament or the next one,” he said. “I’m defending a bunch of points that it’s going to be really difficult to defend all. Even if I defend them, Jannik is going to add some points in these tournaments that he doesn’t have to defend any points in these tournaments.” He added focus on clay form over rankings. Sinner bolstered his challenge by capturing the Sunshine Double—Indian Wells and Miami—with no clay points to defend last year. A quarterfinal exit for Alcaraz here paired with a deep Sinner run could seal the shift. The duo has dominated atop the ATP rankings since Alcaraz's 2022 US Open ascent as youngest No. 1, sharing 132 weeks at the top.