Gaël Monfils completes Carlos Alcaraz upset after rain delay in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI—Gaël Monfils brought sunshine after the rain to the 2024 Cincinnati Open, scoring his biggest win of the season over Carlos Alcaraz, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Monfils trailed the world No. 3 by a set but led 3-1 in the second-set tiebreaker Thursday evening when rain postponed their third-round clash to Friday afternoon. Leveling the match on resumption, Monfils stormed to his first Top 3 victory in over two years (2022 BNP Paribas Open, d. Daniil Medvedev) to advance in two hours and 29 minutes on Center Court.

The fan-favorite 37-year-old, who is competing alongside wife and fellow player Elina Svitolina, was making his 13th appearance at the Lindner Family Tennis Center but had made just one quarterfinal back in 2011. A busy stretch from Wimbledon grass back home to Paris for the Summer Olympic Games left Monfils winless since early July, forcing the former world No. 6 to hit the ground running in Cincinnati.

After cooling off last week’s National Bank Open champion Alexei Popyrin in the first round, Monfils spoke effusively of the 21-year-old Alcaraz, who he’d never beaten in two previous attempts—including earlier this year at the Miami Open.

“He’s a complete athlete, in terms of speed, endurance, power,” Monfil said in his post-match mixed zone earlier this week. “And then his tennis, of course, is quite complete, too. Backhand, forehand, it's quite hard to see where you can (hit). He improved a lot on the return, he’s serving big. He’s just a really complete player.

“At the moment, I see him (the same) as Novak, as Rafa, as Roger, for me. He’s just a bit younger, but he’s already a legend.”

Despite the lopsided head-to-head, Center Court was filled to the rafters for what nonetheless promised to be an electric encounter between Monfils and Alcaraz, the reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion.

The Spaniard was playing his first match since finishing his Olympic debut with a silver medal, and enjoyed a strong start against Monfils to take the opening set.

Things got closer in the second set, which went with serve through all 12 games to force a tiebreaker. Monfils threatened to run away with the Sudden Death when he won the first three points but Alcaraz managed to get on the board just before the match was suspended due to rain.

Upon the match’s resumption, Monfils maintained his mini-break advantage to earn three set points, converting his third to bring the crowd to its feet.

The third set began with close serve games for both players, but it was Monfils who saved two break points on his own serve to turn the tables on Alcaraz, whose frustration uncharacteristically boiled over on falling behind a break.

The No. 2 seed destroyed his racquet as Monfils consolidated a 3-1 lead and closed in on the upset. Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero encouraged Alcaraz to stay calm but Monfils kept the pressure on, forcing the youngster to serve to stay in the match.

On the brink of defeat, Alcaraz outrallied Monfils to avoid match point on serve but Monfils rose to the occasion on his own, engineering two match points from the back of the court. With one last big serve, Monfils edged over the finish line to reach his first quarterfinal in the Queen City, signing the camera with a sweet message to daughter Skaï.

Monfils was back on court later in the afternoon to take on Holger Rune, and led by a set only to fall in three to the No. 15 seed, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.