Carlos Alcaraz made his first appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier when the French Open got underway on Sunday.
He figures to make many more throughout his career–perhaps even many more this year.
Alcaraz began what is a very realistic bid for his first Grand Slam title by beating Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 in just one hour and 50 minutes. The sixth seed converted six of 12 break points, did not face a single break point on his own serve, and more than doubled Londero’s winner count (22 to 10).
“It’s always special to play in such a great stadium, a great court,” Alcaraz said. “I’m really happy with the performance in my first match in Philippe Chatrier and hope to play more matches in this court.”
The 19-year-old Spaniard is now 29-3 this season with four titles–Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Barcelona, and Madrid. This time last year he had to qualify at Roland Garros, as he was ranked No. 133 at the entry deadline. Now he is No. 6. He is the second favorite to capture the title in Paris, trailing only Novak Djokovic ahead of Rafael Nadal.
He was asked following Sunday’s match what are the best and worst things about being him right now.
“I would say the best thing is that I’m reaching my dream. I’m really happy with playing tennis, playing these kinds of tournaments (in this) kind of stadium. (It) is not for everyone, so I would say is the best thing. The worst thing I can say (is) you can’t be normal off the court. You know, you [can’t] go to a restaurant like a normal guy and this kind of stuff.”
Alcaraz has proven time and time again in 2022 that he is anything but normal. It already looks like additional proof could be incoming at Roland Garros.
nice one, Charles
Carlos looked to me to have a bit more pop on his serve. He hit a few 1st serves close to 210, but also threw in a couple about 50 km/slower than that. Pretty impressive win given the pressure on him.