Djokovic upset by Tabilo in the 2nd round at Monte Carlo. Alcaraz advances
MONACO — Novak Djokovic's latest bid to win a 100th career title ended in another upset defeat to a familiar face.
Alejandro Tabilo, who handed the 24-time Grand Slam champion a surprising loss at the Italian Open last year , beat Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
35 minutes ago
- New York Times
Jannik Sinner's French Open final defeat and how to turn a loss into progress
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — After Carlos Alcaraz's last miracle shot had whizzed past him, and the most painful thing that can happen to a tennis player had really happened, Jannik Sinner sat on his chair with his head bent between his knees, rocking back and forth, wondering how the French Open final had possibly gone this way. Advertisement A month ago, he'd reappeared after a three-month anti-doping suspension, unsure of what his tennis might look like after the layoff. Three weeks ago, Alcaraz had handled him without too much stress to win the final of the Italian Open in Rome in straight sets. But two hours ago, Sinner had come within a point of capturing a third Grand Slam title in a row. His fourth overall. His first on the red clay of Roland Garros, supposedly his worst surface. The guy on the other side of the net appeared to need nothing bit the lightest of shoves to fall off the cliff. And then, everything started to go away very quickly. Alcaraz erased three championship points. Balls that Sinner had rifled at the lines all afternoon thudded into the middle of the net. From three points from victory, Sinner found himself having to play one set for all of it. During the changeover before the fifth set, Sinner sat on his chair trying to muster the strength to fight some more, as Alcaraz sprinted on the clay and danced across the back of the court pumping his fist to the crowd as 'Sweet Caroline' blasted from the sound system. He'd mount his own wild recovery, breaking his rival as he stood at the brink of the championship, nudging this duel as far as it could possibly go. But then Alcaraz played a match tiebreak from another planet, taking the match from Sinner one last time. As he sat rocking there, on his chair, the Italian was finally confronting the fate that was destined to befall one of these two gladiators: A first defeat in a Grand Slam final. An hour before, it had all been so different. Those match points were gone, but there were more points to play. He'd done what the best of the best figure out how to do. He deleted everything that had happened from his mind and told himself to start again at zero. And then there was no starting over. 'When it was over, it was over,' he said, red-faced, red-eyed, feeling things he'd never felt before in this glorious but often cruel endeavor. 'You cannot change anymore when the match is over.' Sinner went through something Sunday that can break someone's career. There's a pretty good chance nothing of the sort will happen to him. Advertisement He went through something last year that would break a lot of players too. He tested positive for a banned substance twice, and then played some of the best tennis on the planet, having convinced two tribunals of his innocence but still waiting for the third, final judgment. When his doping case became public, he sat and answered plenty of questions about it. And then he won the U.S. Open, amid the public derision and skepticism of some his fellow players. He won the Australian Open and continued to separate himself from everyone in the sport — with the exception of the Spanish savant he faced on Sunday in Paris — before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who had appealed tennis doping authorities' decision not to ban Sinner, organized a case resolution agreement with his lawyers that came with a three-month suspension attached. Sinner knows some things about how to 'dance in the pressure storm,' as he once put it. He knows how to take a setback with both pain and grace, and how to come back from it. All that said, this one hurt. 'Difficult to accept now because I had lots of chances, but this is the good part of the sport,' he said. 'Also today it got me the sad part, no? But, you know, if you watch only the sad part, you're never going to come back.' On the podium during the trophy ceremony, he'd been the definition of grace when the hurt was as raw as it had been. Tennis is unique in its sadism, making its loser hang around amid the victory celebration. As Sinner sat on his chair, a video played above on a giant screen, celebrating Alcaraz's journey to the title. He didn't dare look up. But then he took the microphone and told Alcaraz how much he deserved the win. It was a stark contrast to 24 hours before, when Aryna Sabalenka lost a knife-edge championship match to Coco Gauff. Advertisement Then she told the world that she lost because she had played terribly amid horribly windy conditions. Whatever Sabalenka had done, Sinner was doing the opposite. He remains baffled by his existence. His mother was at the final Sunday, but not his father. He's a chef in northern Italy. He had to work. 'We are just a very simple family,' he said. He leaned on them during the tough times last year. He plans to lean on them too get through the after-effects of Sunday. He was so close. 'I was break up in the third,' he said. 'A break up in the fourth. Was three match points. Serving for the match. Came back. 6-5, I had chances also in the fifth. So many chances I couldn't use. Sometimes you have these days like you have. You can't really do anything now. 'It's a giving at times, and sometimes you take something,' he said. 'And now it's my time to take something from the close people I have.' He was smiling as he spoke, by then. He knew this was part of what he had signed on for. Even at this low moment, there was gratitude for getting to a place where he said he never dreamed he might be. He'd been a part of one of the most memorable matches in the sport's modern era, with another of its great talents. 'It's good for the whole movement of tennis and the crowd,' he said, a hint of the smile still there. 'It was a good atmosphere today and also to be part of it, it's very special. Of course I'm happy to be part of this. Would be even more happy if I would have here the big trophy. But as I said, you can't change it now.' No, he can't. But tennis doesn't stop. Another Grand Slam, Wimbledon starts in three weeks. Very quickly, Sinner will be back.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
By the numbers: Carlos Alcaraz and his performance for the ages in French Open final
PARIS (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz successfully defended his French Open title on Sunday with a performance for the ages, winning the longest final at Roland-Garros in the Open era. Alcaraz produced a stunning comeback, rallying from two sets down to beat top-ranked Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) after saving three match points. Here's a by-the-numbers look at the thrilling final: 5 Alcaraz won his fifth Grand Slam title, in as many finals. The 22-year-old Spaniard became the third youngest man in history to reach that milestone after Bjorn Borg (21) and Rafael Nadal (22). And it was the fifth time in succession Alcaraz has beaten Sinner overall. 5 hours, 29 minutes This was the longest men's final at Roland-Garros. The previous record was held by Mats Wilander and Guillermo Vilas in 1982 (4 hours and 42 minutes). 3 The number of match points saved by Alcaraz. He battled back from 3–5, 0-40 down in the fourth set. He saved the first match point when Sinner sent a forehand long. Sinner missed a return on the second, then Alcaraz came out on top of a short baseline rally. Alcaraz is just the third man in the Open era to save at least one championship point on his way to a Grand Slam trophy, joining Gaston Gaudio at the 2004 French Open and Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2019. 2 It was only the second time that a men's singles Grand Slam final was decided at the fifth set tiebreaker after Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev at the 2020 U.S. Open. 9 Alcaraz is the ninth man in the Open era to rally from two sets down to win a major final. 22 The number of wins on clay for Alcaraz this year, with only one defeat. 1 Alcaraz has won a best-of-5 match after losing the opening two sets for the first time. ___ AP tennis:
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Alcaraz Comes Back From Brink To Beat Sinner In French Open Final
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner had a one hundred per cent record in seven Grand Slam singles finals before they finally met on the last business day on Sunday. It was worth the wait. Alcaraz was the invincible, irresistible force who somehow defeated Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-2) to grab a second consecutive French Open to add to his two Wimbledons and the 2022 Flushing Meadows title. Something had to give, but it only did so after a back-bending, body-breaking five hours and 29 minutes of brilliant tennis at Roland Garros. The spirit, skill and pure survival instinct of these two men transcended the scoreline. The sting of defeat will be particularly painful for Sinner who was two sets and a break up. Not only that, he held three Championship points when Alcaraz was 4-5, 0-40 down in the fourth set. The world No.1 temporarily overcame his despair to sound mellow and gracious in the post-match speech. Sinner said that he wouldn't sleep well. That might be an understatement. The match began in top gear. The defending champion was on to Sinner's serve in an opener that lasted a dozen minutes. The first three games were played over a mesmerizing 25 minutes with break point opportunities for both. Alcaraz finally succeeded at the seventh attempt to go 3-2 up but then handed the initiative straight back. His level dropped off a few crevices rather than totally off the cliff. It was enough of a dip to let the Italian dominate for the next hour and a half. Sinner looked like a man who doesn't have to think hard, compute or even contemplate. He just hits the tennis ball in very often. While he lost against the same opponent in Rome a fortnight ago, the 23-year-old had just returned from his three-month doping suspension. He wasn't quite ready to win that trophy. A fortnight later, his levels jumped to a higher plane that Alcaraz couldn't quite catch. Sinner was able to neuter the Wimbledon champion's serve by placing returns centrally to cut off the angles. This eventually subdued his opponent who became increasingly agitated at his corner. Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero sat rather impassively, contemplating his charge's first defeat in a major. Alcaraz let the first set go after becoming distracted with dust in his eye and then committing four unforced errors. The second set marched away from him too as a laser-focused Sinner upped his forehand pace. Suddenly, the 22-year-old Murcia man decided to go raging bull on court, making it back from 2-5 to a tie-break. Sinner resisted the momentum and played a superb breaker to make it 31 consecutive sets in majors, and then backed it up at the beginning of the third to turn the screw. The momentum swing and crushing nature of this dire situation would have finished off lesser players. Alcaraz was also 0-8 when two sets to love down. He's not normal in major finals with a heart that embraces the heat of the furnace. The world No. 2 broke Sinner three times in the third and Court Philippe-Chatrier started the roar of a jump-started engine. Sinner repaired his armory in the fourth set and became almost impenetrable on serve, finding a perfect return game to break at 4-3. Alcaraz saved three match points and then took the tie-break brilliantly, recovering from 0-2 to 7-3. Sinner looked out on his feet with cramps and wasn't even running towards Alcaraz's drop shots at the start of the fifth. He was cooked. A double break appeared inevitable. Maybe the pickle juice acted as a pick-me-up because he started to regenerate in the nick of time. Alcaraz served for the match but couldn't get over the line when Sinner started pounding those groundstrokes once again. Alcaraz found his mojo in a magnificently executed match tie-break which was just ten points too many for a weary Sinner. Alcaraz certainly has a knack of winning in shootouts just before his countrymen take to the soccer pitch. At Wimbledon, he demolished Novak Djokovic and then watched Spain beat England at Euro 24. On Sunday, Roberto Martinez's team watched Alcaraz on their mobile phones before they took to the pitch in the UEFA Nations League Final. Sadly, they didn't retain the same composure in their shootout. This French Open final will live long in the memory although Alcaraz himself said it wasn't quite on the level of the 2012 Melbourne encounter between Rafa Nadal and Djokovic which was almost six hours. Andre Agassi, who also came back from two sets down to win the title in 1999, presented Alcaraz with the trophy. Sinner joked that 'It's easier to play than talking now' but was full of respect for the audience, the ball boys, the officials and his opponent. It was a remarkably civil way to handle his devastation. The crowd warmed to him too as he showed his feelings in the fifth. Alcaraz's appreciation of his opponent was heartfelt. 'I have to say thank you for being such a great inspiration,' said the champion. Alcaraz is now 5-0 in slam finals and has won the last five battles against Sinner. This is only the start of an epic rivalry. The Next Gen match-up has delivered a perfect starter before the next main course. Wimbledon awaits.
