Overview
- Carlos Alcaraz, who opened his clay season Tuesday at the Monte Carlo Masters, beat Sebastián Báez 6-1, 6-3.
- After the match, he said he expects to surrender the ATP No. 1 ranking to Jannik Sinner at this event or the next.
- He said last year’s clay results left him defending 4,300 points from wins in Monte Carlo, Rome and Roland Garros and from reaching the Barcelona final.
- He added that keeping No. 1 is not his priority, with his focus on finding form on clay after nearly a year away, and he noted a few second-set mistakes to fix.
- Because Sinner has few points to defend until the Italian Open following last year’s ban, this Masters 1000 could trigger a quick shift at the top.