Carlos Alcaraz Storms Into French Open Second Round - UBITENNIS

Carlos Alcaraz Storms Into French Open Second Round

By Adam Addicott
4 Min Read

Carlos Alcaraz has begun his quest for French Open glory with a comprehensive win over Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli. 

The world No.1 produced an impressive display throughout his 6-0, 6-2, 7-5, win on the Suzanne-Lenglen Court. Alcaraz didn’t drop a game in the match until 35 minutes in as he blasted 26 winners past Cabolli who tried his best to be as competitive as he could. However, the disparity in level between the two was evident. Whilst Alcaraz has recorded 16 wins over top-10 players so far in his career, his opponent has yet to beat anybody ranked in the top 50 on the Tour. 

Coming into this year’s tournament, the Spaniard suffered a minor blip in Rome where he suffered a shock loss to World No.135 Fabian Marozsan who is the lowest-ranked player to beat him since 2021. Despite that setback, he was back to top form at Roland Garros where he produced some sublime athletic movement around the court. Breaking down his use of heavy shot-making with some delicate drop shots. 

“It’s great to play here. It was my first time on the Suzanne-Lenglen court. I enjoyed playing my first round match here,” Alcaraz said during his on-court interview.
“It was not so good when you lose 5-4 when serving (for the match) but I had to forget that. I think I forgot it really quickly.” He added.

After racing through the first two sets by winning 51 out of 73 points played, Alcaraz was tested by his opponent in the third frame who was cheered on by the crowd. Cobolli had two break point opportunities to break for a 3-1 lead but failed to do so. Nevertheless, the underdog refused to go down without a fight he produced some inspired play to finally break Alcaraz when he was serving for the match at 5-4. Eventually, Alcaraz weathered the storm by breaking once again for a second chance to serve the match out which he successfully did.

Monday’s triumph marked the first time the 20-year-old has played a Grand Slam match since winning the US Open last September. He was forced to pull out of the Australian Open in January due to a leg injury which delayed his start to this season. Since returning to action, he has won 31 matches and claimed Four ATP titles. 

“I try to enjoy myself on the court. I love playing tennis and for me, that’s the most important thing,” Alcaraz replied when asked about his approach to the sport.
“I heard that Stefanos (Tsitsipas) started to enjoy playing thanks to me. For me, it is great to hear this from other players. That’s something I try to do in every match and that’s the most important thing is to enjoy myself on court.”

Awaiting Alcaraz in the second round will be Japanese world No.112 Taro Daniel who beat Chris O’Connell 6-0, 6-2, 6-4. Despite his current ranking, Daniel has already posted wins over Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini and Casper Ruud this season. Although all of those wins were on a hardcourt.  

Alcaraz is the youngest man to be the top seed at the French Open since Bjorn Borg (19) in 1976. He has now won 25 Grand Slam main draw matches.

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