Carlos Alcaraz has made it back-to-back quarter-final appearances at the Monte-Carlo Masters after seeing off Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
The Spaniard had to work for it, though, dropping the second set as he ran into a rough patch, tallying up 23 unforced errors along the way.
Alcaraz explained how he stayed mentally locked in even when things weren’t clicking for him on court and spoke about how his mindset helps him push through those rough patches.
“When I was not playing at my best tennis, there are a lot of things that you can do to keep your focus and try to stay in the match,” Alcaraz said. “That’s what I told myself. Try to focus on what you have to do. And when I lost the second set, I tried to forget about it.”
Alcaraz shares how he’s grown mentally in matches
Alcaraz was acknowledged in his press conference at the Monte-Carlo Masters for keeping his composure after losing the second set.
When asked about it, Alcaraz replied: “Well, first of all, thank you! I’ll tell my coach that you said it! It’s something I’ve worked on.
“When I was younger, if I missed a shot, I would scream, sometimes throw the racket, and fill my mind with negative thoughts. And those thoughts could last one or two games.”
“We realized how important it is to fill your mind with positive things all the time, even when things aren’t going well, when you’re not feeling the ball or missing a lot of shots,” he explained.
“The more you fill your mind with positive thoughts, the quicker things can turn around. It’s something I’m still working on.
“If I miss an easy shot, I try to understand what happened, think about how I could have done it better, and then focus on the next point.
“I try to do that the whole match. Sometimes it’s really difficult, but it’s something I keep in mind. It’s a goal in every match.”
Alcaraz has changed his mentality to make sure he stays focused even when things aren’t going his way during a match.
Bublik is coming off an impressive win over defending champion Andrey Rublev and will be looking to carry that form into his quarter-final meeting with Alcaraz.
Alcaraz’s Monte-Carlo track record
Carlos Alcaraz captured the Monte-Carlo Masters title last season, his first triumph in the opening clay court event of the year.
He had played only two editions of the tournament before 2026, which makes his record even more striking.
Following wins over Sebastian Baez and Tomas Martin Etcheverry this week, Alcaraz now stands at 7-1 in Monte-Carlo.
That translates to an 87.5% win rate at the event, ranking it as his third-strongest Masters performance by percentage.
Alcaraz has won 88% of his matches at both the Italian Open and Madrid Open, reinforcing just how dominant he’s become on clay at this stage of the season.
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