MASON, Ohio — The Cincinnati Open has seen its fair share of upsets, but Friday’s events stood out the most.

He quickly triumphed in a tense second-set tiebreak and maintained his momentum in the third set, securing a remarkable 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory against the defending runner-up of the Cincinnati Open.

“I felt like I played my worst match ever,” Alcaraz stated in his post-match interview.

At age 37, Monfils becomes the second-oldest player to defeat a top-3 opponent this century, following Roger Federer, who, at 38, beat Novak Djokovic in the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals. Monfils had a record of 8-30 against top-3 players prior to facing Alcaraz.

When the match resumed on Friday, Alcaraz—who aims to reclaim the top spot in the ATP Rankings—struggled to find his rhythm from the previous night, where he had been close to reaching the quarterfinals.

Frustrated after Monfils took a 3-1 lead in the third set, Alcaraz smashed his racket in anger, failing to break Monfils, who is now just one win away from his first Cincinnati Open quarterfinal appearance since 2011.

“I’m not sure what went wrong,” Alcaraz reflected, noting that the conditions on Center Court felt faster compared to his earlier practice sessions. “I lost control and couldn’t perform better. Winning this match was impossible, and that’s all there is to it.”

Next Steps for Alcaraz and Monfils

Alcaraz needed to advance to at least the quarterfinals in Cincinnati to surpass Novak Djokovic for the No. 2 ranking, but he’ll remain at No. 3 as he heads to New York, where he aims to secure his second U.S. Open title in three years.

Meanwhile, Monfils is set to compete in Friday’s evening session against Holger Rune for a chance to move into the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals.