On Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner clashed for the first time this year in the ATP Monte Carlo Masters final. In addition to the fight for the title, it doubled up as a duel for the world #1 spot. It was a hotly anticipated match as it always seems to be, but maybe the delay for the first Sincaraz match of the year added to the occasion and the anticipation. Both players had also looked in good shape all week long, coming into this one. They had both dropped only one set in the tournament so far. So the stage looked to be set for a high-quality affair.
However, what unfolded was a less-than-stellar affair, as both players had an additional inhibiting factor to contend with, in addition to each other. All tournament long, the weather had basically complied, as if agreeing that it was best to make the period about the tennis. If that was the contract signed, somehow it didn’t cover Sunday’s showpiece, as even before the first shot was taken, the players walked onto the court, greeted by winds adamant about being part of the show.
Both guys struggling playing with the wind so far….you need to play with more patience and much higher margin for error when it’s like this.. the one who recognises this and adjusts quickest will win..
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) April 12, 2026
A few games into the contest, it became apparent that this was not going to be the sort of high-quality affair we’ve come to expect when the pair meet on a tennis court, as both players found themselves battling the conditions as much as each other. Shots went long, beyond the baseline. Shots went wide of the deuce and ad courts. Shots went into the net. It was as frustrating for fans hoping for a spectacular affair as it was for the players.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz battle the wind
An Unexpected Third Party
For a long while now, in tennis, the question of who could challenge the undisputed two has been a hot topic. So many names and players have been thrown into the hat as potential breakers of the duopoly. Ironically, here in the Principality of Monaco, it was simply the elements. The games literally stumbled along with both players exchanging early breaks. It was clear that whichever of the two figured out the winds early was most likely to triumph.
And that’s exactly how it played out as the first set, rolled into a tie breaker. Sinner who had struggled with his usually dependable serve had just started to find his range with more regularity in the last couple of games leading into the tiebreak. He took the lead in the tie break, and just when he had a routine put away at the net to take the set following a short shot from Alcaraz, he dumped into the net, as both players struggled to find rhythm. Alcaraz served next and in what was probably a nod to the treacherous conditions, served a double fault to hand over the set to the Italian.
It was hoped that the winds would die down or that both players will eventually figure out the conditions going into the second set. However, it seemed the winds, were fully involved now and enjoying the havoc it was causing and there was simply no way it was going to retire mid-match. So it was down to the players to figure it out by themselves. And for a while it looked like the mercurial Alcaraz had finally found his range as he broke Sinner in the third game and despite some fight back from the then, world number #2, held in the next game to go 3-1 up.
Down 1-3 in the 2nd set, Jannik Sinner won 5 consecutive games against Carlos Alcaraz to win the Monte Carlo title.
Icy under pressure.
🥶🦊❄️ pic.twitter.com/CNUiRG9oyD
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 12, 2026
That was as good as it got for him. In fact, that was the last game he won in the contest. Sinner raised his level again, and reeled of the next five games in a row to take the set, the match, the championship, the number #1 ranking as well as the small matter of putting the wind in it’s place. It was a masterclass in some ways, from the Italian, but not the type we’ve come to expect. It was one that touched more on how to deal with adversity and testing conditions to achieve your goals.
What Next?
For the Spaniard Alcaraz, he’d hope to recover quickly enough as he heads to the Barcelona Open where he’d need nothing short of a title win if he is to reclaim the #1 spot. Sinner, on the other hand will be taking a break from tennis after what has been a very demanding couple of months that has seen him win Indian Wells, Miami and now Monte Carlo, becoming only the second man to do so after Novak Djokovic. He’s drawn the first blood of the year and in this clay season with more battles still ahead.
