Gael Monfils stuns Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Toronto Masters when Carlos Alcaraz misses his mark

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) on Wednesday to win his 13th straight ATP match and open the Toronto Masters.

The Spaniard, who is vying for Canadian glory after winning back-to-back crowns at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon, won the second-round match between the two 20-year-olds.

As he starts the preparations for defending his US Open championship, Alcaraz has a record of 48-4 so far this year.

The top seed acknowledged that the 41st-ranked American opponent, who won the 56-minute match and earned his first career victory in Toronto, sometimes outhit him.

From the beginning, he was more aggressive than I was, Alcaraz said. I made an effort to maintain my composure and establish my groove, but I struggled.

“However, I’m glad to have advanced to the next round. This kind of match helps you concentrate. Alcaraz said, “I need to play better going forward.” In the round of 16, he will take against Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, the 15th seed.

Elsewhere On Wednesday, fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas was shocked by French veteran Gael Monfils, who won in straight sets to progress to the round of 16.

In little under 90 minutes, the 36-year-old Parisian, who is ranked 276 in the world, defeated Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-3.

The victory was against an in-form Tsitsipas who had just won the ATP Los Cabos championship in Mexico the previous weekend, and it was the first time Monfils had defeated a player in the top 10 since March 2022.

Monfils overcame 29 unforced mistakes to progress to the third round of the Washington Open last week.

KEEPING COOL

It took Monfils two match points to win; on the first one, a shotmaking battle went in Tsitsipas’ favor, and then the French veteran sealed the triumph shortly after.

Monfils stated, “I kept extremely cool and tried to make easy decisions after (losing) the first match point. I just maintained my composure; I felt no terror.I anticipated that Stef would be aggressive and confident when he arrived here.

“I played a good match, and I was pleased with how I was playing again.

“For me, having excellent mobility is always important. I was pleased with it, so.

In other matches on Wednesday, second seed Daniil Medvedev defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-2, 7-5 to progress to the third round.

In the humid summer heat, Medvedev stated he needed to exert more effort against Arnaldi in the second set. He had 18 unforced mistakes and 26 winners.

Although it felt amazing, Medvedev admitted that he might have played better in the second set.

“There were two or three games when I had to preserve break points.The match was decent, but I still need to become better.

“The summertime weather is scorching, and I need to get acclimated to it. Normally, it requires two or three games.

With this win, Medvedev improved to 8-1 in Toronto and has now won 47 games this year.

The 36-year-old British player Andy Murray defeated qualifier Max Purcell 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-5 as he continued to demonstrate consistent development ahead of the US Open’s start on August 28.

The three-time Grand Slam winner battled hard for over three hours against a determined opponent from qualifying after falling down by a break in the last set.

Andrey Rublev, the sixth seed, struggled in his first summertime hardcourt encounter, falling to American Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-3.

With the German dropping service four games, 2017 champion Alexander Zverev was defeated by Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-2 in 62 minutes.

Jannik Sinner defeated Matteo Berrettini in an all-Italian match 6-4, 6-3, fending off all seven break points he was presented with. Murray will now face the seventh seed.

The number 19 defeated Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the round of 16 following a comeback of 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. He then joined fellow countryman Lorenzo Musetti there.

Milos Raonic, a Canadian who had been off of the Tour for two years due to injury, advanced after defeating Taro Daniel of Japan 6-4, 6-3.

The young compatriot Gabriel Diallo was defeated 6-4, 7-5 by the Australian Alex de Minaur.