Carlos Alcaraz retired early in his opening-round encounter of the Rio Open against Thiago Monteiro. It went down as a win for the latter, which means he has a rare head-to-head advantage over the Spaniard. The Brazilian outdid star names like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Jannik Sinner.
After a shock loss in the semi-final of the Argentina Open, Alcaraz looked to make amends at the Rio Open. However, he rolled his ankle just two points into the first-round match. He bravely attempted to carry on but had to pull out after two games, splitting one apiece.
Alcaraz’s mid-match withdrawal meant the result officially counted as a win for Monteiro. This took the local pro’s head-to-head record over the World No.2 to 2-0 in ATP main draw fixtures. He had previously defeated Alcaraz in straight sets in the 2021 Melbourne International Round of 16. Back then, he was ranked World No.84, higher than Alcaraz’s World No.143.
Regardless, Thiago Monteiro is now one of the only two players to remain undefeated against Carlos Alcaraz after having played more than one match. Mikael Ymer is the other name to hold this distinction. Nadal was 2-0 against his younger compatriot for a while before Alcaraz beat him in the quarter-final of the 2022 Madrid Masters.
Monteiro joined Ymer in eclipsing Nadal, Sinner, Djokovic and other such stars in their records against Alcaraz. While the aforementioned trio have winning records against the two-time Grand Slam champion, it is not a spotless record like Monteiro now boasts.
Interestingly, Alcaraz had avenged his Melbourne defeat later that year. He beat Monteiro in the qualifying rounds of the 2021 Cincinnati Masters. However, qualifying wins do not count in the official ATP head-to-head.
Thiago Monteiro: All you need to know about the Brazilian
Monteiro is now ranked much below what he was when he last met Alcaraz. He has spent considerable time outside the top 100 and is currently World No.117. He achieved a career-high World No.61 rank in October 2022. Despite his low rank, he is still Brazil’s second-highest-placed player behind Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Primarily playing in Challengers, Monteiro’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the third round of the 2020 French Open. Overall, he has won nine Challenger titles, earning $3,317,054 so far.
Born on May 31, 1994, in Fortaleza, Brazil, he resides in Buenos Aries, Argentina. Monteiro revealed his first love was soccer, which he pursued as a child, but Gustavo ‘Guga’ Kuerten inspired him to play tennis. He also dated Beatriz Haddad Maia for a while some years ago (Globo). He was sponsored by Lacoste until 2017, switching to Joma afterwards, while using Babolat equipment.
Carlos Alcaraz is not Monteiro’s first big scalp. In fact, he beat then-World No.9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on his ATP singles debut in 2016. He has beaten top names like Dominic Thiem, Gael Monfils, Fernando Verdasco, and Cameron Norrie over the years. However, his biggest victory before Alcaraz came against Holger Rune, then World No.4. He beat the Dane in a Davis Cup Group Stage tie.
