Carlos Alcaraz breezes through opener at Paris Masters
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Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in action during his match against Nicolas Jarry of Chile at the Rolex Paris Masters tennis tournament.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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PARIS – Carlos Alcaraz, despite being a four-time Grand Slam champion, has little expectations as he opened his campaign at the Paris Masters on Oct 29 with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Chilean Nicolas Jarry.
After receiving a first-round bye, the 21-year-old took a 3-0 lead in his round-of-32 match but was reined back by Jarry, before eventually claiming the first set.
However, the Spaniard was in commanding form in the second set, dropping only one game as he raced to victory with 13 winners and only six unforced errors.
Following his win, Alcaraz admitted that he was not hoping for much in the Paris Masters.
“It’s been two years since I have won a match (at this event)... so every time that I keep going is a gift for me,” the world No. 2 said.
“I’m just really happy to get through the opening set, it was really important for me to come into the second with more confidence. I (need) time to get used to the speed of the court.
“It’s always hard to compare your tennis year to year, but I am in a much better state mentally.
“I do want to play at my best level at this part of the season. I’m motivated to win this tournament, to make good results.
“Last year the court was probably slower but it’s difficult to compare.”
Alcaraz is the heavy favourite to win his first title on the hard court at Bercy Arena, after Italian world No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from the tournament earlier on Oct 29 due to an intestinal virus.
He will also be looking to close the 4,300-point gap between him and Sinner in the world rankings.
“It’s never good news when the best player in the world withdraws from a tournament,” Alcaraz added. “I wouldn’t meet him before the final but I love to see him playing as a tennis fan.”
Alcaraz will face Ugo Humbert in the round of 16 after the Frenchman beat American Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-2.
In other matches, Norwegian seventh seed Casper Ruud led 5-1 in the first set but capitulated to lose to Australian Jordan Thompson 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-4.
“I think my ball is a little bit flatter, it doesn’t give him as much time to wind up on both groundstrokes,” said Thompson, who beat Ruud in the Los Cabos Open final to claim his maiden ATP Tour title in February.
“But he is playing good on hard courts too, I’ve just managed to get the better of him a couple of times. Today I found it a lot harder, he was hitting it a lot deeper and firmer, but thankfully I managed to pull through.”
Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev crashed out after losing 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) to Australian Alexei Popyrin.
Poland’s 12th seed Hubert Hurkacz was also upset as he succumbed to a 6-1, 6-3 loss to American Alex Michelsen, with play lasting just over 50 minutes.
Fresh off winning his first ATP 500 tournament on Oct 27 in Vienna, Briton Jack Draper beat Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-5, 6-2.
Australian Alex de Minaur defeated Mariano Navone of Argentina 7-5, 6-1 to keep alive his chances of reaching the ATP Finals in November.
Also still in the hunt for Turin is Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, who set up a round-of-16 meeting with Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo after a 6-3, 6-4 win over Alejandro Tabilo of Chile.
Holger Rune enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4 win over Matteo Arnaldi, while American Ben Shelton fought through in three sets against hometown hope Corentin Moutet.
France’s Richard Gasquet, who earlier in October announced his retirement from tennis after next season’s French Open, bowed out of the Paris Masters with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Belgian Zizou Bergs.
AFP, REUTERS
