Carlos Alcaraz made his Internazionali BNL d’Italia debut by beating fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday afternoon. Alcaraz recovered from an early break deficit in the first set and then was off the races, cruising to victory in one hour and 26 minutes.
After giving away his break advantage, Ramos-Vinolas still looked poised to reach 5-5 in the opening frame of play when he served at 4-5, 40-15. However, Alcaraz reeled off four points in a row to break and after that dominated set two.
“It wasn’t easy,” the top seed assured. “The first [match] of every tournament is really tough. And of course on clay Ramos-Vinolas is a really tough opponent. I had to adapt my game really quickly to be able to get through.”
Alcaraz simply had to take the court in Rome to guarantee his return to the No. 1 ranking. The 20-year-old trails Novak Djokovic by only five points, so 10 points from a second-round loss still would have been enough. Djokovic cannot add to his total since he won the Rome title last year, while Alcaraz skipped the 2022 edition following his first Madrid triumph.
With the French Open draw being made immediately following the Rome Masters, Alcaraz has clinched the No. 1 seed at the season’s second Grand Slam.
“It’s great to be the No. 1 seed in Roland Garros, in a Grand Slam. It’s something crazy that I wouldn’t have believed years ago. I’m really happy, but for me it doesn’t change too much to be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed. But of course it’s something great to be No. 1.”
nice one, Carlos
Not Ricky’s beloved Alcaraz…the chosen one that was prophesied.
He’s still got Djokovic, so I’m sure he’ll latch on to him for the remainder of the event.
Alcaraz in allsorts of trouble against Marozsan. No doubt he will win in the end but when you consider how he played against Struff ( not great to put it mildly) he really does look beatable.
His struggles forced Petchey to compare Alcaraz unfavourably to Rafa on clay saying no one can do what Rafa has done.
Blasphemy!
Get ready for the rascist taunts.
Didn’t Alcaraz hit the back edge of the line this time? Must’ve had an off day…
Or maybe Juan Carlos wasn’t there giving him a 25% edge over the rest of the tour
OMG!! Maroszan won!!😀😀😂😂😂😂
Hooray!!😀
Please can people stop saying he is like Rafa on clay. No he isn’t!!
People should go look at what Rafa was doing on clay at 19/20. No comparison.
Looks like 30 grand slams might be out of the question then.
Haha sanju! 😀
Yes indeed! It really was quite a moment to hear the commies admit he couldn’t be compared to Rafa! 😀😀
I was very annoyed by Alcaraz’s comments a couple of weeks ago when he said he could beat Rafa at RG and wanted to match his record of 14 slams. Given Rafa is a fellow countryman out injured with what may be a career ending injury I thought that was astonishingly insensitive and disrespectful.
Rafa would never ever in a million years say something like that. Nor would Toni have said what Ferrero said about their wanting to match Rafa ‘s 22 slams.
Rafa and Toni were always respectful and humble.
Petchey said this didn’t affect Alcaraz being fave for RG. But Alcaraz struggled against Struff and would almost certainly have lost that match if Struff hadn’t had a terrible day on serve. At one point Alcaraz was on 70% first serve and Struff was on 38%. Struff finished the match on 38%.
We know now Carlos is not invincible.
ATP is now on fire like the WTA; Possibilities galore.
😯😯😯😯Now I am shocked.
Happy for Amy!!
But now I am transfixed by the Meddy vs. Zapata Miralles match
I don’t like to see Meddy lose to this noisy, grunting man.
Maroszan guy, the Charlie killer, is talking in perfect English. And he seems so lovely. Rafa is his hero, and you have to like him.
You are missing Dasha and Jelena Elizabeth!
Am supporting Dasha…
Maroszan does seem charming. I didn’t know he was a Rafa fan! One more reason to like him…😀