Gaël Monfils could never believe in an exploit. Very quickly dominated by a Carlos Alcaraz still in great shape, on the momentum of his title in Indian Wells, the 47th in the ATP ranking, initially hampered by pain in his left leg, never managed to exist during his 3rd round in Miami. Dominated in two sets (6-2, 6-4), it allows the big favorite to reach the round of 16, where he will face the Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
It was a crazy hope, which ultimately never took shape. Competing for only 4 games with the protégé of Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gaël Monfils, who would have been happy to shake the one who is crushing everything in his path at the moment, did not have any illusions for very long. The fault, above all, was a pain in the left leg which followed a spectacular point between the two men and which seemed to break the Habs’ momentum.
Unable, therefore, to engage in the exchange and show his face of recent weeks, Monfils messed up the next six games, thus letting the first set and the break slip away at the start of the second act. For a long time impeccable in service (81% of first serves and 76% of points won behind) the Spaniard pressed as soon as he could to falter an opponent incapable of competing with the power and acceleration of Alcaraz (only 3 points out of 17 won on his 2nd ball by Monfils).
Gaël Monfils felt pain in his left leg at the very start of his match against Carlos Alcaraz in Miami – March 2024
Credit: Getty Images
The 20-year-old had to be very close to victory for the husband of Elina Svitolina, present in the stands, to finally get back on track. Taking advantage of three unforced errors from the world number 2 who served to win the match at 5-2, the Frenchman broke before pocketing his service game with, once again, some dazzling forehands.
But the Spaniard did not doubt for long and finally finished in 1h13, to get closer to a sixth Masters 1000 title which seems, given his current form, to be within his reach.