Carlos Alcaraz was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the French Open last year.
Carlos Alcaraz reports that his injured forearm is “getting better and better” after a commanding first-round victory at the French Open over J.J. Wolf. The 21-year-old withdrew from Monte Carlo Masters due to a muscle strain, arriving in Paris with limited practice. However, he dropped only four games in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 win against the American lucky loser Wolf. Despite wearing a compression sleeve on his arm during the match, Alcaraz expressed satisfaction with his performance, saying, “I think I showed my best tennis today. I tried everything I could do to be here at 100%.”
The Wimbledon champion won in 1 hour 51 minutes with 27 winners, 16 unforced errors and five aces. Alcaraz aims to improve on his semi-final result from last year. “I would have loved to have played more matches, but I don’t need too many to get to 100%,” he said. “I did really good preparation these past two weeks and practices with top players. My forearm is getting better and better.” Alcaraz will face qualifier Jesper de Jong in the second round after the Dutchman defeated Britain’s Jack Draper in five sets.
Meanwhile, sixth seed Andrey Rublev overcame a challenging first-round match against Taro Daniel to advance. Rublev, from Russia, didn’t have an easy time on Court Simonne-Mathieu but managed a 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 7-5 win over Japan’s Daniel. The 26-year-old is seeking to progress beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time. Despite throwing his racquet, Rublev regrouped to win in 3 hours 11 minutes. He will next face Pedro Martinez, who won a five-set match against Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina.
Poland’s eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz also endured a five-set battle defeating Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. French 17th seed Ugo Humbert lost to Lorenzo Sonego; 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov beat Aleksandar Kovacevic in straight sets. Kei Nishikori won a grueling five-set match against Gabriel Diallo, 7-5, 7-6, 3-6, 1-6, 7-5. American 27th seed Sebastian Korda also advanced defeating French wildcard Harold Mayot in straight sets.
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