MONTE CARLO, Monaco — Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz continued their duel for the world No. 1 ranking before the French Open as they opened their clay court seasons by crushing their opponents into the red Monte Carlo dirt on Tuesday.
With Usain Bolt in the crowd, the world’s top two sprinted to second-round victories at the Masters event.
No. 2 Sinner took one hour and four minutes to dispatch Frenchman Ugo Humbert, 6-3, 6-0. He was followed onto center court by top-ranked Alcaraz, who took five minutes longer to beat Argentine Sebastian Baez, 6-1, 6-3.
Sinner is chasing a first significant clay court title and seeking to dethrone defending Monte Carlo champion Alcaraz as world No. 1, although the Spaniard said after his match that it was inevitable the 24-year-old Italian would take top spot in the next few weeks.
Sinner came into the season’s first clay court event following his impressive “Sunshine Double” in March at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters 1000 tournaments, winning the two titles without dropping a set.
His victory on Tuesday ran his winning streak in 1000-level events to 18 matches.
“It was a good performance from my side,” Sinner said, adding the first clay event “is never easy.”
“You have to change your game style a little bit, how you approach certain situations,” he said.
“I come here with good feelings but, at the same time, not many expectations.”
Alcaraz had no such reservations.
“It’s been almost one year [since] the last match I played on clay,” he said. “To be honest, I missed it. I missed getting myself dirty a little bit.”
Last season, Alcaraz entered four clay-court tournaments, winning three, including Monte Carlo, and losing the final in Barcelona.