Andy Murray gave his thoughts on the Monte Carlo Masters final after watching Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz earlier today.
It wasn’t the blockbuster many fans were hoping for, but in the end, the Italian handled the swirling wind better than his rival.
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With that victory, Sinner also moves back to world number one, adding another layer to their rivalry.
Murray’s comments provide valuable insight into how tough those conditions can be, even for the world’s best. And it might explain why both players looked a bit below their usual standards at times.
The pair have met nine times in professional tennis matches, and Sinner now leads 6-3 after today’s victory. While that may sound quite one-sided, each encounter has been very closely contested.
Today was no different. The first set was decided by a single break of serve, before a tiebreak in set two saw things go level once more. It felt like we could be headed toward three sets as well when Alcaraz went up early in set three.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Andy Murray responds to Jannik Sinner’s win over Carlos Alcaraz in Monte Carlo
Even Sinner mentioned the impact of the wind during his post-match interview, underlining how significant it was throughout the day.
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Murray had weighed in earlier, posting his views on X before the match had even wrapped up.
He wrote: “Both guys struggling playing with the wind so far….you need to play with more patience and much higher margin for error when it’s like this.. the one who recognises this and adjusts quickest will win..”.
Sinner clearly handled those challenges better, recovering from a breakdown in both sets to win in straights. Sinner has moved back to the top of the rankings. Heading into Monte Carlo, he was already aware that he needed to outperform Alcaraz to reclaim the top spot.
With this event being won by Alcaraz last year, Sinner had fewer points to defend since he didn’t play in it.
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Now, Sinner holds a total of 13,400 points, just 160 ahead of Alcaraz, who will now shift his focus towards Barcelona. Next up is Madrid, where both players missed out last year, which presents another big chance for movement in the standings.
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