Carlos Alcaraz walked into the first round of
Roland Garros with a good impression of his right arm and without any wear and tear. His opponent, the young American JJ Wolf, looked more like a sparring partner than a professional fighter. It served him to gain confidence with his body and with the Philippe Chatrier (6-1/6-2/6-1).
Alcaraz lost the first game on his serve, but quickly equalized the score by being very aggressive in the rest of the game. He did not fail with his second serve, already showing more solid both serving and hitting with his forehand from the back of the court. He began to give height to his shots, won his serve and broke the American's serve again: 3-1 in just 19 minutes of play followed by a lengthy period between the pair.
Carlos Alcaraz, hitting forehand.
The first set was decided. Alcaraz was putting more intensity to his strokes and ended up closing the set by 6-1 giving more and more strength to his backhand. Partial 6-0 after losing the first game of the match;
The second set continued with the same dynamic, with a very calm Carlitos, moving from side to side to his rival, without risking with his forehand and breaking again the service of a Wolf who at that stage of the match did not know what it was to win a game on serve.
Wolf was more aggressive on Alcaraz's first serve in the second set and had four set balls, but the player from Murcia overcame and ended up making it 2-0. There was nothing to do, too much difference in quality between the two players.
Wolf cut the bleeding of lost games in a row (8) to put the 2-1 on the scoreboard, but it was a mirage and there was nothing to do and ended up closing the set without problems by 6-2. With 2 set to zero for the Spaniard Wolf had to be attended by the physios for a physical problem.
END OF THE MATCH.
Rain was threatening in Paris and the Chatrier closed the roof before the start of the third and final set. There was no turning back as far as the match was concerned, JJ Wolf was completely overwhelmed by the world number 3. Carlitos was trying more things with his forehand and that cost him some mistakes in exchange for gaining more confidence. Less than two hours and he sealed the win.