Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz defeated Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor 6-1 7-6(3) on Monday to reach the third round of the Paris 2024 Olympics tennis tournament showing the form that will make him hard to beat but also some sloppiness as he strives for gold.
The world number three, who won this year’s French Open and Wimbledon titles was back on Court Philippe-Chatrier and set the tone from the start with an ace and two forehand winners.
With the crowd having seen fellow Spaniard Rafa Nadal beaten by Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz appeared determined to show he was ready to take up the baton at Roland Garros, breaking Griekspoor immediately and racing through the first set in 32 minutes.
But the Dutchman, ranked 28 in the world, made a better fist of it in the second set. He repeatedly held his serve under pressure, giving back as much as Alcaraz threw at him and at times forcing the Spaniard into some uncharacteristic errors.
The set went to a tiebreak with the 21-year-old Alcaraz stepping up the pace and showing subtlety to win the match.
In the third round he will play Russian Roman Safiullin, the world number 67, who is competing as a neutral athlete.
Hindered by groin injury
Alcaraz was troubled by a groin injury during his 6-1 7-6(3) second-round win over the Dutchman, but he hoped he would be pain-free in time for his doubles match on Tuesday.
“I know the way that I have to deal with this pain, it is normal for a tennis player, the schedule is so tight, so demanding, so I will try to recover as soon and as well as I can tonight to be ready at 100% tomorrow in the doubles,” the 21-year-old told reporters.
Source Agencies
