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.”
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