Carlos Alcaraz began his Monte-Carlo Masters title defense with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 second-round victory over Sebastian Baez on Tuesday in Monaco, where he made virtually no mistakes throughout the 70-minute match.
"It's been a really good start to the tournament for me," Alcaraz said, as quoted by ATP.
"To be honest, I was surprised by my level of play. I thought I would play a little worse, but I'm happy with everything I did today."
"Maybe there were a few things I didn't do well in the second set. I let him get into the match, but overall, I'm happy to be playing another match on clay," said the 22-year-old.
Playing on clay for the first time since his dramatic Roland Garros final victory against Jannik Sinner last July, the world No. 1 broke Baez's serve five times and only lost his own serve once.
Alcaraz is looking to repeat his stellar clay-court season in 2025, when he posted a 22-1 win/loss record on the surface.
