Paris [France], May 26 : Carlos Alcaraz made a bold statement to his opponents on Sunday at Roland Garros, easily defeating JJ Wolf in his opening match of the French Open 2024.
In exactly one hour and fifty-one minutes, Alcaraz wrapped up a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 victory against Wolf on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
A player who had been out of action for more than three weeks due to a right forearm injury would find confidence restored after the Spaniard's easy victory at the clay-court major.
"I'm really happy to be back, to be back here in Paris, to be back competing again. It's been a really difficult month for me. I love competing, I love playing tennis, and to stay away from that was hurtful for me. I tried everything I could do to be at my 100 per cent here in Paris, to show my best tennis, and I think I did it today," Alcaraz said in his on-court interview, as quoted by ATP.
Alcaraz revealed that he had to hold back on his forehand during his run to the quarterfinals in Madrid at the beginning of the month.
The arm ailment also caused him to withdraw from another ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome. But in their first-ever ATP Head2Head match, Alcaraz most certainly did not hold back when it came to his groundstrokes against Wolf. Throughout the match, he made excellent use of his signature big forehand.
"I would have loved to have played more matches [this month], but I don't think I need too many matches to get to 100 per cent. I think I did really good preparations these past two weeks before coming to Paris. I practiced this week with top players, and I felt really good moving, and hitting the ball. My forearm is getting better and better, and it is something good for me," Alcaraz said.
Wolf tried his hardest to stop Alcaraz's surge, but stats show that the third-ranked player in the PIF ATP Rankings ended up converting nine of his fourteen break points.
"Honestly, I'm with low expectations coming into this tournament, but after the practice week, after this first round, well, the confidence is higher. My expectations probably got higher after today's match, but let's see," Alcaraz said later in his post-match press conference.
A semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, Alcaraz will next take on Dutch qualifier Jesper De Jong in the second-round match, who defeated Jack Draper 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-3 in Paris.
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