Last year, Carlos Alcaraz enjoyed the best season of his short career so far, winning two Grand Slam titles and multiple Masters 1000s.
The Spaniard captured second titles at the French Open and US Open, while also winning Cincinnati, Monte Carlo, Rome and Barcelona – to name just a few.
This year, Alcaraz began the season in scintillating form, winning titles in Melbourne and Doha amid a 16-match win streak.
His form cooled in North America, losing to Daniil Medvedev and Sebastian Korda in Indian Wells and Miami, respectively.
The 22-year-old is now preparing for the Monte Carlo Masters; and during his pre-tournament media duties, Alcaraz discussed the watershed moment from his 2025 season.
Carlos Alcaraz says winning the Monte Carlo Masters was the ‘turning point’ of his 2025 ATP campaign
“I’m just really happy to be back here – the first tournament of the clay court season,” Alcaraz said while in conversation with TNT Sports.
“At least for me, which is great. I just miss it so much to be honest so I’m going to try and enjoy it as much as I can – this beautiful surface, this beautiful tournament.
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“It’s great to be here as a defending champion. It’s something that I don’t think about to be honest and it’s trying to be in a good shape and trying to get better after every practise and let’s see how it goes.
“I do remember last year. This week was really, really important. I would say that this was the turning point of 2025.
After the feeling I got here, I just got better and better. I understand and I realise how I should play after this week.
“That’s why I did an exceptional year after this one. I do remember that I didn’t play that well, but everything that came after that, it was an amazing moment for me.”
Alcaraz defeated Lorenzo Musetti in the 2025 Monte Carlo final, before going on to dominate the clay-court season.
The Spaniard went on to win the Barcelona Open, Italian Open and Roland Garros.
The French Open, in particular, was the highlight of Alcaraz’s season: the Spaniard saved three consecutive championship points against Jannik Sinner before winning the match in a fifth-set tiebreak.
Alcaraz will hope that this year’s event will have a similar impact on his 2026 ATP campaign.
The Spaniard will need to be at his best across the clay-court swing. Otherwise, he could end up surrendering his world number one spot to Jannik Sinner.
| Opponent | Result | Score |
| BYE | – | – |
| Francisco Cerundolo | Win | 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 |
| Daniel Altmaier | Win | 6-3, 6-1 |
| Arthur Fils | Win | 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 |
| Alejandro Davidovich Fokina | Win | 7-6, 6-4 |
| Lorenzo Musetti | Win | 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 |
Carlos Alcaraz’s Monte Carlo record
2026 will mark the third occasion in which Carlos Alcaraz has competed in the Monte Carlo Masters.
The youngster made his debut at the event in 2022, defeating Botic van de Zandschulp before losing to American player Sebastian Korda.
Alcaraz did not compete at the event in 2023 and 2024, before making his return in 2025.
Will Jannik Sinner overtake Carlos Alcaraz and become world number one? 🤔
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Alcaraz defeated Francisco Cerundolo, Arthur Fils and Lorenzo Musetti on his way to the title, cementing his status as the best clay-court player on the planet.
The Spaniard will hope for the same outcome this year, and he will begin his campaign against Argentina’s Sebastian Baez; who defeated Stan Wawrinka on Monday.
