Gael Monfils of France makes a serve to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain through the males’s singles spherical 2 through the Cincinnati Open on the Lindner Household Tennis Middle in Mason on Friday, August 16, 2024. Monfils upset Alcaraz 4-6, 7-6, (5), 6-4. France’s Gael Monfils, at age 37, pulled off a significant upset Friday by defeating World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in a second-round match continued from Thursday on the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio.
The unseeded Monfils knocked off second-seeded Alcaraz 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 after rain suspended the match Thursday evening with the Spaniard forward 6-4, 6-6 (1-3).
Monfils, ranked No. 46 on the earth, defeated a top-three opponent for the ninth time in his profession — the latest a victory over then-No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in March 2022 in Indian Wells, Calif.
Till Friday he was winless in opposition to Alcaraz, 21, who received the French Open and Wimbledon this yr and earned a silver medal on the Paris Olympics earlier this month. Alcaraz had misplaced solely seven matches this yr.
Monfils did not let Alcaraz’s in a single day benefit get in his strategy to victory. He completed with 15 aces and 30 winners to counter 35 unforced errors and 12 double faults in windy circumstances.
Neither participant had a lot success breaking serves, with Monfils changing 1 of 8 and Alcaraz 1 of seven.
Alcaraz, the runner-up right here in 2023, tried to shut out the match within the second-set tiebreaker, however Monfils constructed on his early 3-1 result in take the second set.
Alcaraz was visibly pissed off within the third set, when he smashed his racket after failing to interrupt Monfils’ serve at 1-2.
When Monfils clinched the match lasting two hours and half-hour (over two days), he grew to become the second-oldest participant to beat a top-three opponent this century. Roger Federer, at 38, defeated World No. 2 Novak Djokovic on the Nitto ATP Finals in 2019.
Monfils wasn’t performed for the day, because the delay meant he was scheduled to face fifteenth seed Holger Rune of Denmark within the third spherical.
Additionally Friday, prime seed Jannik Sinner of Italy received his third-round match in a walkover in opposition to Australia’s Jordan Thompson to achieve the quarterfinals.
Third-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany emerged from a good battle with Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 7-6 (6). Zverev, the 2021 Cincinnati Open champion, grew to become the tenth participant to achieve 30 profession ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinals.
Russia’s Andrey Rublev, the sixth seed, went from tough to clean with a 7-6, (5), 6-1 win over American wild card Brandon Nakashima within the third spherical. Rublev, who additionally defeated Nakashima final week in Montreal, subsequent faces Sinner.
Norway’s seventh-seeded Casper Ruud did not make it out of the second spherical Friday, as Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime received 6-3, 6-1.
The Canadian’s efficiency was overwhelming. He pitched a 14-0 shutout in aces and dominated in winners, 26-3.
Auger-Aliassime transformed 5 of 10 break-point alternatives whereas dealing with only one break level to avoid wasting, which Ruud received. Auger-Aliassime had one other match later Friday in opposition to Nice Britain’s Jack Draper.
American Ben Shelton, the twelfth seed, downed Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-3 within the third spherical and advances to fulfill Zverev.
–Area Degree Media