Alcaraz happy to be back on clay: "I missed the long rallies"

Carlos Alcaraz won his first career match in Monte-Carlo this Wednesday by defeating Francisco Cerundolo.

The reigning Roland-Garros champion spoke in a press conference about what he had missed from the clay season: "I’d say the long battles. And also the fact that the serve isn’t as decisive as on hard courts, which is good for me.

I feel like you really play every point. You can’t get many free points with your serve, so it allows you to develop the point much more than on other surfaces.

I missed the long rallies. I even missed getting my socks dirty from the clay. On clay, you get to watch real tennis because it’s not just about big serves or one or two-shot points.

For example, yesterday we saw a 48-shot rally between Zverev and Berrettini. That’s what I love—playing and watching tennis on clay."