TORONTO – Carlos Alcaraz won his 13th ATP match in a succession on Wednesday, defeating Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to kick off the Toronto Masters.
The Spaniard won the second-round match between the two 20-year-olds, who is aiming for Canadian success after winning titles at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon.
Alcaraz has improved to 48-4 on the season as he prepares to defend his US Open crown.
The top seed conceded that he was out-hit by his 41st-ranked American opponent at times during the 56-minute encounter, which was his first career triumph in Toronto.
“He was more aggressive than me from the start,” Alcaraz explained. “I tried to be consistent and find my rhythm, but I had some difficulties.”
“However, I’m relieved to have advanced to the next round.” Matches like this one aid in concentration. “I have to play better from now on,” Alcaraz said, who will face Polish 15th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the round of 16.
Elsewhere Gael Monfils, a French veteran, upset fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday, winning in straight sets to move to the last 16.
The 36-year-old Parisian, who is presently ranked 276th in the world, defeated Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-3 in just under 90 minutes.
The victory was Monfils’ first over a top-10 player since March 2022, and it came against an in-form Tsitsipas, who won the ATP Los Cabos event in Mexico last weekend.
Monfils advanced to the third round of the Washington Open after overcoming 29 unforced errors.
Monfils needed two match points to win, with a shotmaking duel on the first winning chance going in Tsitsipas’ favor before the French veteran closed out victory moments later.
“After (losing) the first match point, I stayed very calm and tried to make simple choices,” Monfils explained. “I just kept my cool; there was no panic.”I thought Stef would come in with a lot of confidence and would go for his shots.
“I played a solid match, and I was pleased with how I was moving on the court again.”
“Great movement is always important to me.” So that made me pleased.”
In other action on Wednesday, second seed Daniil Medvedev defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-2, 7-5 to move to the third round.
Source: AFP