Prince of Clay Carlos Alcaraz clears first hurdle at Monte Carlo Masters

The duo took to the court to face each other for the fourth time in their careers. The match initially looked to be one-sided, with Alcaraz winning the opening set 6-1, but a lapse of concentration from the Spaniard in the second opened the door to his Argentine opponent.

Baez rallied to bring the second set to 4-3 but Alcaraz broke to take a 5-3 advantage and served out for the match.

After, Alcaraz admitted he surprised even himself with his level.

"It's been almost a year since I last played on clay," he said.

"To be honest with you, I missed it. To get my socks dirty a little bit. So it's been a really good start to the tournament for me. To be honest, I surprised myself with the level.

"I thought I was going to play a little bit worse, I would say. But, you know, just happy with everything I've done today.

"Maybe a couple of things that I just didn't do in the second set. I just let him get going again into the match, but you know, overall, I'm just happy to play matches again on clay and happy with today's match."

Alcaraz faces the winner of the tie between Tomas Etcheverry and Terence Atmane in the Round of 16 on Thursday.

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