ATP 1000 Monte-Carlo: Can Carlos Alcaraz Defend His Title?
by Bradley Gibbs | by Tyler Doty
Tournament history
After a couple of lesser tournaments last week, the quality goes up a notch; there’s no doubt about that. One of the best clay-court tournaments of the season, the Monte-Carlo Masters is a serious event, an event that the most serious competitors usually win, as Rafa Nadal’s 11 wins illustrate.
Taking place at the Monte Carlo Country Club, this event has had a new dominant force since the virtually unbeatable Nadal called time on his career, as we’ll see below. Last year, Carlos Alcaraz came out on top, claiming this prize for the first time.
Recent winners and finalists of the Monte-Carlo Masters:
- 2021 - Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Andrey Rublev
- 2022 - Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
- 2023 - Andrey Rublev defeat Holger Rune
- 2024 - Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Casper Ruud
- 2025 - Carlos Alcaraz defeated Lorenzo Musetti
It’s no secret that this is an event that suits certain players. Rafa Nadal was always at home in Monte Carlo, while in recent times, Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas has made it his business to be the man to beat, winning three of the last five renewals.
Plenty of players like this tournament
Stefanos Tsitsipas may not have gone as far as many would’ve expected him to at this event last year, but the three-time Monte-Carlo Masters winner is not somebody to forget about. Despite not enjoying his best run at the tournament in 2025, he still made the quarter-finals, which is something that he’s done (at least) every year since 2021.
Monte Carlo is simply where the Greek player comes alive, so I really wouldn’t be quick to dismiss him this time around.
Tsitsipas is far from the only big-name player who has carved out a habit of doing well at this event. Casper Ruud has reached both the semi-final and the final since 2021, while Andrey Rublev has not only won the event in the last five years, but also finished as the runner-up, so he’s another big-name player to take seriously this week. Alex De Minaur reached the quarters in 2024, reaching the semis last year, making him yet another top player who is entitled to lots of respect.
Carlos can do it
I certainly won’t rule out the likes of Tsitsipas, Ruud or Rublev, all of whom could enjoy themselves on the Monte-Carlo clay, but I must say I am finding it hard to look beyond Alcaraz, who looked so at home under these conditions a year ago.
Jannik Sinner is not in the field this week, and that’s big for the Spaniard, who enters the tournament as the top seed. When Alcaraz enters a tournament as the top seed, he can be very, very difficult to stop, winning two tournaments as the number one seed in 2026 already, while in 2025, he delivered a record of 71 wins and just nine losses when down as the number one seed. Such stats are far from easy to ignore.
Interestingly, Alcaraz hasn’t played this tournament too many times, playing for just the second occasion when going all the way a year ago, but he seemed very suited to the conditions, which are slow and favorable to players who can excel in longer rallies, which is right up the street of the world number one, who is arguably the best of the best in terms of stamina and grinding it out on courts that favor longer rallies. .
Sure, the 22-year-old didn’t excel in Miami recently, but let’s not be too harsh to dismiss him on that basis. After all, he’s lost only two matches in 2026, winning two of the four events that he’s entered, while he has all the attributes necessary to defend his title here.
