Second seed Carlos Alcaraz battled past a determined Arthur Fils in Friday’s quarterfinal match at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in Monaco.
The Spanish sensation fended off three break points at 5-5, love-40 in the second set and clawed back from a 1-3 deficit in the final set to clinch a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win in 2 hours and 24 minutes.
“I just focused on staying strong and waiting for my opportunities,” Alcaraz said. “Arthur’s playing at a really high level right now and puts a lot of pressure on his opponents—I definitely felt that today. But he made a few errors at key moments, and I tried to capitalize on those. In the second set, I saved the break points and converted the only one I had.
“In the third set, I focused on playing solid tennis. Even when I was down a break, I kept pushing, stayed aggressive, and made sure to stay mentally and physically tough.”
Fils ended the match with a 23-18 edge in winners, but the 20-year-old Frenchman also tallied 53 unforced errors compared to Alcaraz’s 41. Fils capitalized on 4 of his 11 break opportunities, while Alcaraz converted 5 out of 14.
Alcaraz, 21, boosted his season record to 18-4 as he continues his pursuit of a maiden title at the ATP 1000 clay-court event. He’ll face unseeded fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Saturday’s semifinals.
Davidovich Fokina, a 2022 Monte Carlo finalist, breezed past Australia’s Alexei Popyrin with a 6-3, 6-2 win in just 70 minutes. He handled nine aces from Popyrin, who committed more than twice as many unforced errors (31 to 13) and failed to earn a single break point in the match.
“I’ve grown as a person and matured,” said 25-year-old Davidovich Fokina. “When you’re able to manage things off the court, it becomes easier to stay in control emotionally during matches. Today was proof of the progress I’ve been making this season.”
In the other semifinal, No. 8 seed Alex De Minaur of Australia will face No. 13 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. De Minaur dominated No. 15 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria with a stunning 6-0, 6-0 win in just 44 minutes. It marked the first double bagel in an ATP Tour quarterfinal or later since Roger Federer shut out Mischa Zverev in the 2013 Halle quarterfinals.
“It’s not just about blasting powerful shots on clay,” De Minaur explained regarding his strategy this week. “It’s more about creating space, using angles, varying the height and pace of the ball, and finding that sweet spot between being overly aggressive and too defensive.”
Musetti, meanwhile, fended off 14 of 17 break points and mounted a comeback to defeat No. 6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
