Carlos Alcaraz drops 3-word message in first reaction after kicking off clay swing with Monte-Carlo opener win

Carlos Alcaraz dropped a short message after beginning his clay court season with a win at the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters. This victory marked the Spaniard's first win at the tournament.

Alcaraz is seeded second at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monaco and he began his run at the tournament in the second round following a first-round bye. He faced Francisco Cerundolo in his opening match and dropped the first set 3-6.

However, the four-time Grand Slam champion made a stunning comeback, claiming the next two sets and, in turn, clinching the match 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 in an hour and 37 minutes.

With this win, the former World No.1 also extended his head-to-head record against the Argentine to three wins and zero losses on the ATP Tour

Following his win over Cerundolo, Carlos Alcaraz left a brief message on the camera in the stadium, expressing that he missed playing on clay.

"I missed clay!" Alcaraz signed the camera.

During the post-match on-court interview, Alcaraz revealed that he previously used to rank clay courts as his second-favorite surface after hard courts. He said that this preference has changed and deemed clay courts to be his favorite.

“I don’t know. I always say that probably, until now, I always put it 2nd. I prefer to play on hard court. Right now, I don’t know. I think I’m gonna put it first. I just missed the clay season. I haven’t played on clay since the Olympics. I love this part of the year. I love watching the matches here on clay. I love playing here on clay. I grew up playing on this surface. I’m gonna put it as #1,” Alcaraz said via ATP Tour.

This season, Carlos Alcaraz's best results have been winning the 2025 ABN AMRO Open, reaching the semifinals at the Indian Wells Masters, and making quarterfinal runs at both the Australian Open and Qatar Open.

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Carlos Alcaraz will face Daniel Altmaier at the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters 3R

Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters [Image Source: Getty Images]

After defeating Francisco Cerundolo in the second round of the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters, Carlos Alcaraz will take on qualifier Daniel Altmaier in the third round of the tournament.

Altmaier earned his spot in the main draw of the ATP Masters 1000 clay court event by navigating his way through the qualifying rounds. He overcame Jaume Munar with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, and then defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(3), 6-3 in the first and second qualifying rounds, respectively.

In the main draw, the German started off strong by defeating the 16th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime with a score of 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round. He then triumphed over wild card Richard Gasquet 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in the second round to advance to the third round, where he will face Alcaraz.

Carlos Alcaraz and Daniel Altmaier have never faced each other on the ATP Tour, and their third-round match at the Monte-Carlo Masters will be the first time when these two players play against one another. The winner of this match will advance to face either the seventh seed Andrey Rublev or the 12th seed Arthur Fils in the quarterfinals.