Struggling until his leg was injured, Gael Monfils still couldn’t beat Alcaraz at the Miami Open – 2024-04-01 16:04:34

Tennis player from France, Gael Monfils, in the third round of the Miami Open against Carloz Alcaraz. (Doc. AFP/Megan Briggs)

CARLOS Alcaraz advanced to the fourth round of the Miami Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win over French veteran Gael Monfils. Monfils struggled to keep up with Alcaraz in that match, even injuring his ankle in the fifth game.

Although Monfils continued to play bravely, taking some excellent defensive shots from Alcaraz, the world number two was too tough for Monfils.

There were smiles aplenty, among the occasional annoyed look from Monfils, who enjoyed some entertaining rallies. Where Alcaraz can show his agility in making contact.

With the result feeling like a formality, Alcaraz eased on the accelerator and Monfils was able to break serve for the first time to reduce the deficit to 5-3.

Monfils then held serve with a brilliant cross-court winner before Alcaraz closed out the match to book a place in the fourth round against either Lorenzo Musetti or Ben Shelton.

“He (Monfils) is a great athlete. He reads almost all the balls so I have to be patient but at the same time, with my forehand, my best shot, try to move it around the court, to tire him out a bit and give myself a chance to dominate points, get to the net, hit my best shots,” Alcaraz said.

Also read: Carlos Alcaraz Advances at Miami Open

“That’s what I tried to do in the match and it worked well,” he added.

Zverev Knocks Out Eubanks

Previously, fourth seed from Germany Alexander Zverev managed to pass a difficult test against American Christopher Eubanks, winning 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Zverev made a crucial break as Eubanks served out the first set at 5-3 before breaking early in the second to go 3-0 up and seal the win.

Also read: Sinner Buries Alcaraz’s Dreams

“He came out attacking and didn’t give me a chance to be aggressive. I tried to mix it up from the baseline,” said Zverev.

“I was surprised how well he played from the baseline, not giving me many unforced errors. He makes a lot of shots but usually misses a lot but today he didn’t miss, especially at some stage in the first set,” he added.

Australia’s Alex De Minaur advanced with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 win over 24th seed Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.

De Minaur will face Fabian Marozsan in the next round after the Hungarian continued his impressive tournament with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Alexei Popyrin. (AFP/Z-9)