At just 18-years old, Carlos Alcaraz is already setting records as he swept past Nikoloz Basilashvili to advance to the third round at Roland Garros.
The Spaniard defeated the 28th seed 6-4 6-2 6-4 on Thursday, becoming the youngest man to reach the third round at the French Open since 17-year-old Andrei Medvedev in 1992. Furthermore, he also holds the distinction of being the youngest man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since Rafael Nadal did so at the 2004 Australian Open, aged 17.
"Obviously it's good, the numbers, but I still focus on me," Alcaraz said. "That means that I'm going the right way. I am doing the right things, and I keep doing this. I'm still growing up as a player and as a person, and that's the important thing."
Making his main draw debut in Paris, the Murica native was full of positive energy, evidenced by his fist pumps and roars of "Vamos" during his two-hour victory.
“Today the positive emotions were really, really important because Nikoloz is a really, really good tennis player,” Alcaraz revealed. “He has a lot of great skills. He hits the ball really, really hard, and if you don't focus, if you are not focused, it's hard to play against him. You have to be focused all the time.”