CINCINNATI.- The Spanish Carlos Alcarazthird in the world ranking of the ATPwas surprised this Friday by the French Gael Monfils when he eliminated him in his debut at the Cincinnati Open, the previous event of the US Open.
Monfils won 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in a match interrupted by rain on Thursday night and in which Alcaraz won one set, but lost 3-1 in the tiebreak of the second.
The reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion was unable to match the cunning of his 37-year-old French rival, who has two decades on the court and is a threat to any young prospect.
Alcaraz now heads into the US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, which starts on Monday, without a hard-court win and with just one second-round match under his belt.
The Spaniard had lost the Cincinnati final last year to Serbian Novak Djokovic, the recent Olympic gold medallist in Paris.
Alcaraz committed 40 unforced errors while Monfils had 48 in the win, along with 15 aces, in a match halted by rain on Thursday night during the second-set tiebreak.
Other results
While a frustrated Alcaraz fumed about his form and occasionally shouted at his team, world number one Jannik Sinner was celebrating a quiet 23rd birthday, when fate had a gift in the form of a walkover.
The Italian advanced without playing in the quarter-finals after the withdrawal of his rival, the Australian Jordan Thompson, who did not show up for the match due to a rib injury.
Sinner will face Andrey Rublev on Saturday, the sixth seed and finalist in Montreal, who defeated Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (7/5) and 6-1.
For his part, German Alexander Zverev, fifth seed, defeated Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta 7-5 and 7-6 (8/6).
Meanwhile, seventh seed Casper Ruud’s poor run continued as the Norwegian fell 6-3, 6-1 to Felix Auger-Aliassime in 68 minutes, with the Canadian hitting 14 aces.
