Carlos Alcaraz waits for his chances to clinch first clash with Arthur Fils in Monte Carlo

After two hard-fought, missile-filled sets, Arthur Fils had the shot he wanted lined up. One more clean swing on an inside-out forehand, and he would be serving for the match against four-time Grand Slam champ Carlos Alcaraz.

This was the first meeting between the 21-year-old Spaniard and the 20-year-old Frenchman. It had been a long time coming, but it had been worth the wait. For two sets and 90-odd minutes, they had thrown everything they had at each other. Full-swing forehands from one side were met by even bigger swings from the other. Slugfests rallies from the baseline turned into cat-and-mouse finesse duels at the net.

Alcaraz was the more accomplished of the two, but Fils had been building to this type of high-profile collision for the past month, when he made quarterfinal runs in Indian Wells, Miami, and now Monte Carlo. He was more than ready for whatever Alcaraz had in store, and looked, for a set and a half, like he would be the better player on the day. When push came to shove, it was Fils’ brilliantly reflexed returns and heavy forehands that were prevailing. Alcaraz’s customary grin was nowhere to be found. He looked stressed, by Fils and the French-centric Monte Carlo crowd.

At 5-5 in the second set, Alcaraz seemed to buckle under Fils’ pressure, going down 0-40 on his serve. Two good points got him back to 30-40. With one more break chance, Fils slowly took control of a long rally, running around to hit forehands, and forcing Alcaraz to come up with short-hop backhands near the baseline. Finally, Fils had a look at an inside-out forehand. He fired it toward the sideline; for a split-second, the ball looked like it would go for a winner. Then the electronic voice spoke: “Out.” Alcaraz had reached deuce. Breathing a sigh of relief, he held, then played a much more upbeat game to break for the set, finishing with a perfectly measured reflex lob winner. The grin was back.

Fils’ best chance, it turned out, had come and gone. But instead of caving, he forced Alcaraz to earn it. Down 1-3 in the third, the Spaniard kicked into another gear, while the Frenchman may have succumbed to nerves. Fils opened the door with an error-filled game at 3-2, and Alcaraz barreled right through it. At 3-3, his backhand began to click. At 3-4, Fils tried to counter by going even bigger with his forehand, but sent the ball into the net and the doubles alley instead. Fils was broken for 5-3. A second or two later, so was his racquet.

“Honestly, I just wanted to stay strong and wait for my chances,” Alcaraz said after his 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win. “He puts a lot of pressure on his opponents, I could feel it in some moments. He made a few mistakes and I tried to make the most of it.”

The stat lines for both players were not as impressive as the match itself. Together, they combined to hit 41 winners and make 95 errors. Fils won just 32 percent of points on his second serve. Alcaraz’s drop shot helped make the difference.

“I miss clay,” Alcaraz said with smile. “I think on clay it’s easier to play the drop shot; it’s a weapon that I use a lot. Matches like this give me more confidence to keep doing it.”

This was the first of many meetings between these two—another at Roland Garros in two months would be nice—and likely the start of a rivalry that will last a decade. For today, Alcaraz’s big-stage experience made the difference. In the deciding moments of the third set, Fils overhit just a bit, while Alcaraz found his range and raised his game just in time.