Carlos Alcaraz's terrific North American hard court form continued with another good showing against the veteran entertainer Gael Monfils.
Alcaraz entered the event in Miami having won in Indian Wells with a victory in the final against Daniil Medvedev. This was the 20 year old's first title since Wimbledon last July.
The Spaniard was impressive in his first match at the Miami Open. Alcaraz put in a strong performance against Roberto Carballes Baena, only losing three games on his way to victory.
However, the two-time Grand Slam champion is a perfectionist. Alcaraz spoke about how he found the conditions difficult despite the comfortable victory, with the Miami humidity being one factor.
Monfils has been one of the most popular players on the ATP Tour for many years. He has entertained crowds with his athleticism and shot-making for nearly 20 years. But Alcaraz barely allowed him to do that for most of the contest.
The Frenchman started the match okay with two relatively easy holds of serve. But Alcaraz settled into the match after that, and the world No. 2 broke in the fifth game to love after some blistering hitting from the baseline.
Another break followed in Monfils' next service game. Although the 37 year old was putting a lot of balls back into play with his movement, Alcaraz's technical ability was just too much to handle. The Spaniard took the opening set 6-2.
Monfils needed a strong start to the second set to have any hope of recovering. Unfortunately for him, he was broken to love for a second time in the first game of the set. This included a trademark inside-in forehand from the 20 year old.
Alcaraz continued to dazzle on Stadium Court and won many epic points, including one where Monfils somehow tracked down two drop shots, but Alcaraz then found an outrageous passing shot to win the point.
The crowd vocally supported Monfils to try and lift him and the Frenchman finally got some reward when Alcaraz faltered unexpectedly when serving for the match at 5-2, which was the only time Monfils had break points on an Alcaraz service game.
Monfils hit some great shots to hold serve in the next game but Alcaraz made no mistake when serving for the match a second time. He closed out a 6-2 6-4 victory with a service hold to love.
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