What I Missed Most About Clay

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Photo credit: Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters

Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his clay-court return getting his feet dirty.

Alcaraz tore through seven straight games stopping Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 to soar to his first Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters victory today.

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After a subpar Sunshine Double that saw Alcaraz look flat falling to Jack Draper at Indian Wells before suffering a stunning opening loss to David Goffin in Miami, the 21-year-old Spaniard looked eager and excited to return to red clay.

Reigning Roland Garros champion Alcaraz has won 13 of his last 14 clay-court matches with his lone loss in that span coming against Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic in the Paris Olympic gold-medal match played at Roland Garros last summer.

Alcaraz said the two things he misses most about clay are fighting through physical points—and the fact the serve is not as dominant a shot on dirt as it is on hard court.

“I think [I miss] the tough battles, and as I say, you know, the serve is not as important probably as on hard court, so I think that’s pretty good for me,” Alcaraz told the media in Monte-Carlo. “You know, I think we playing, you know, almost every point, so we can make a lot of points or free points with the serve, so that’s make develop the point even more than probably other surface.”

The fact the speedy Spaniard is arguably the best mover in the sport on natural surfaces—clay and grass—is also an asset on dirt.

In his Sunshine Double defeats, Alcaraz sometimes struggled on serve.

Though Alcaraz can blast 130 mph-plus first-serves, can serve with hellacious spin and dots all areas of the box, he clocked in at only No. 30 on the ATP Tour in first-serve points won in 2024 (73 percent) and was No. 12 in the vital service games won category (85.4 percent).

That’s low for a four-time Grand Slam champion of Alcaraz’s caliber.

In contrast, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner was No. 1 in service games won (91.4 percent) and was second in first-serve points won (79.3 percent) last year.

The 21-year-old Spanish superstar showed his damaging return game today. Alcaraz converted six of eight break points and won 12 of 14 points played on Cerundolo’s serve in that shutout second set today.

Alcaraz said he’s missed clay-court play because he views it as “real tennis” rather than the serve plus one style so prevalent on hard court.

“Yeah, long rallies, you know, get the socks dirty a little bit. You know, that’s what I miss, to watch good tennis,” Alcaraz told the media in Monte-Carlo. “I think, you know, on clay you can watch the real tennis, because as I said, it’s not only watching, you know, big serves or whatever, or points, you know, and just one or two shots.

“On clay you see long rallies. For example, yesterday, 48 rallies. That’s what I like, watching tennis and playing here on clay.”