Jannik Sinner continued his dominant run by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the 2026 Monte-Carlo Masters on Sunday. The win helped the Italian regain the world No. 1 ranking.
Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka’s former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, has now provided his analysis of the Monte-Carlo final that saw Sinner clinch a fourth straight ATP Masters 1000 title.
Patrick Mouratoglou on How Jannik Sinner Defeated Carlos Alcaraz in Monte-Carlo
In his assessment of the windy Monte-Carlo Masters final, Mouratoglou said Sinner’s mental strength and adaptability helped him come out on top. The 55-year-old felt that Alcaraz started to get “frustrated” and “nervous” when things did not go his way, allowing the Italian to take advantage and win in straight sets.
“Mental strength and tactical choices. Jannik Sinner came out on top [on both]… Where Jannik adapted and held firm, Carlos grew frustrated. That contrast alone told much of the story,” he wrote in his assessment of the Monte-Carlo Masters final on LinkedIn.
“When Jannik was struggling, instead of varying the height of his shots and targeting Jannik’s backhand with high, looping balls, he engaged in flat, tense backhand-to-backhand exchanges; exactly the kind of rally that suits Jannik,” he added.
Alcaraz started both sets on the front foot, going up a break early on. But the Spaniard let slip his advantage on both occasions, and Sinner did not look back.
“Jannik sensed that extreme nervousness and exploited it well, applying pressure above all on return of serve. And when it really counted, in the tie-break, he delivered. He found his first serve at the critical moments and made the difference. Carlos did the opposite: having held a higher first-serve percentage across the match, he lost it entirely when the tie-break arrived… Jannik was there when it mattered the most,” he added.
Both players struggled with their serve at times, with Sinner landing his first serve only 51% of the time. Meanwhile, Alcaraz had a first-serve win percentage of 58% and a second-serve win percentage of 56%.
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Alcaraz did hit more winners (20 to Sinner’s 13), but simply gave his opponent too many opportunities with 45 unforced errors (compared to Sinner’s 38).
While Alcaraz is usually the more polished player on clay, Sinner appears to have turned the tide and finds himself in excellent form ahead of the second Grand Slam of the year. The Spaniard still has time to turn things around. But he will have to do so quickly if he wants to retain his title at the French Open.
