Dominant Alcaraz mauls Wolf to march into French Open second round

Carlos Alcaraz powered his way into the second round of the French Open with a crushing straight-sets win over American JJ Wolf.

The 2023 semi-finalist needed just one hour and 52 minutes to dispatch Wolf, in a one-sided 6-1 6-2 6-1 win under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Alcaraz has had to deal with a forearm injury in recent weeks, and missed both the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open, before returning for the Madrid Open ahead of another withdrawal at the Italian Open.

Jannik Sinner had also overtaken him as the world No. 2 behind Novak Djokovic, and a strong performance in Paris would help him in his quest to regain his No. 1 spot.

The 25-year-old Wolf had dropped out of the top 100, and was in the first round as a lucky loser. The American is yet to get past the first round at Roland-Garros, or secure back-to-back wins this season.

There were early rumblings of an upset when Wolf broke the 21-year-old Spaniard in the first game, but some powerful work from the baseline in the second game gave him an immediate break back.

Back on serve, Alcaraz had no problem taking the lead for the first time in the match, and he broke once again to point the way to a comfortable first set.

A thumping two-handed backhand from deep, down the line gave Wolf no chance to prevent another break, leaving Alcaraz to serve for the first set after a little over half an hour’s play, and while his arm may have been giving him a little trouble, his glide towards the net to deftly win a point suggested he had no problems with his mobility.

Wolf failed to hold his serve to open the second set, but he gave himself three break points in the second game before Alcaraz rallied back to deuce. A ferocious forehand took him back in front with the pressure on his opponent to be the one to hold serve. The rain then started to lightly fall and Wolf’s concentration was broken, sending a shot long and then serving up an error.

Alcaraz then rolled out a succession of vintage drop shots to keep his rival struggling. Wolf gave himself the chance of holding just his second serve with a powerful return, and moved 5-2 behind, only for Alcaraz to hold to go one set from victory.

Predictably, Alcaraz broke Wolf in the opening game, and a pre-emptive closure of the roof on the court headed off the coming heavy rainfall, before Alcaraz moved three clear as his superiority became ever starker.

Wolf perceptively anticipated a drop shot from Alcaraz at break point to land his second break of serve to go 3-1 behind, and he started his service game with a whipped return across court to threaten some form of comeback, only for Alcaraz to return with a backhand that guided the ball just over the net and complete his own break in immediate response, before serving to go 5-1 up and a game from the second round.

Wolf struggled with his first serve as the pressure started to show, and the pair battled to deuce before Alcaraz ended the match in comfortable form.

Speaking to Eurosport’s Mats Wilander on court after his victory, Alcaraz was relieved to be back to his best and in good shape after his recent struggles.

“I’m really happy to be back here in Paris to compete again. It’s been a very difficult month for me. I love competing, playing tennis, and straying away from that was distracting for me,” he said. “[I did] everything that I could do to be 100% and play my best here, and I think I did it today. I’m really happy to show some good tennis again.

“I say it so many times. I love playing in Paris. The energy is something special. Seeing a full crowd in the first round is amazing. I don’t mind if it’s watching me or everyone, but it’s great for tennis to have a lot of people coming to a tournament on day one. I’m trying to make people enjoy it.”

He was not too concerned by his recent lack of playing time, believing that he does not require too much tennis to get into his best rhythm.

He added: “I would have loved to play more matches [beforehand], but I don’t need too many to get to 100%. Four matches is too low, I’m not going to lie, but I think I did really good preparation this past two weeks before coming to Paris.

“I practised this week with top players; moving well, hitting the ball with my forearm is getting better and better. It’s something good for me. I feel like I didn’t stop playing tennis, so it’s a really good point for me. I think I don’t need too many matches to play my best.”