Staff Reporter.
Carlos Alcaraz came through a tricky early test at Roland Garros with flying colours, as the world number one sealed a 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-2 victory over Japan’s Taro Daniel on Wednesday to reach the third round.
Alcaraz enjoyed a dominant opening win over Flavio Cobolli in his first match as the top seed in a Grand Slam and the 20-year-old made another blistering start against Daniel to ease through the first set on the back of two breaks.
Daniel pounced early in the next to grab a 3-0 lead before Alcaraz got on the board. He continued to batter the suddenly error-prone Spaniard with some relentless hitting from the baseline before levelling the contest.
But the Japanese player, who is ranked 112, was quickly on the back foot again as Alcaraz regained focus to break early and close out the third set in style conceding only one game late on.
With normal service having resumed, Alcaraz closed out the match on serve to book an encounter with Canadian 26th seed Denis Shapovalov.
Tsitsipas powers into third round
World No 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas found little resistance as he disposed of claycourt specialist Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets 6-3 7-6(4) 6-2 on Wednesday to advance to the French Open third round.
The fifth seed, who is chasing his first ever Grand Slam, had struggled somewhat in his tournament opener against Jiri Vesely but was in complete control against the 30-year-old Spaniard, cruising to an easy win.
With a potential clash against world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, Tsitsipas said he had no plan for the rest of the tournament and instead adapted to whatever was coming his way. “During a Grand Slam, there is no plan,” he said. “Things are being thrown at you, and you just have to react to them and do something.
“So I wish there was a plan. Maybe in Rafa’s (Nadal) mind when he plays here there is some sort of a plan.”
Spain’s Nadal is a record 14-time winner in Paris but is not competing this year due to injury.
“But you just have to adjust to each player’s shot making, each player’s idea of how they’re going to play against you. That’s how things work,” Tsitsipas said.
“You can never be sure enough of how things are going to evolve during a match.”
The 24-year-old quickly grabbed the initiative against Carballes Baena, breaking him early, while holding his own serve, to bag the first set.
The pair then traded two breaks each in a rollercoaster second set with Carballes Baena trying to lock Tsitsipas in long baseline rallies.
The Spaniard managed to take it to a tiebreak but the Greek kept his composure to take a two-set lead before cruising to a quick 4-0 and then booking his spot in the second round with ease.
Kokkinakis ends Wawrinka’s run
Thanasi Kokkinakis knocked 38-year-old Stan Wawrinka out in a five-set rollercoaster to book a third round place at Roland Garros for the first time since 2015.
Australian world number 108 Kokkinakis came through 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 in four hours and 38 minutes against the 2015 champion.
“I feel better now that I’ve won,” said the 27-year-old after securing victory on a fifth match point.
“What a match. I know Stan is getting older but in the first set he was playing the best. I was nowhere, just hanging in.”
Kokkinakis, who described Wawrinka, a three-time major winner, as a “legend” of the sport, last made the third round of a Slam in Paris eight years ago when he was just 19.
However, he has been plagued by physical and medical problems with a shoulder injury limiting him to just one singles match from November 2015 until May 2017.
He then missed the entire 2020 season due to mono before undergoing surgery on his sinuses in 2022.
“I’ve had a pretty crazy story. I came on the scene when I was pretty young, looked like I was set for a big future but I went missing for a few years,” he said.
Kokkinakis will take on either Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov or Moldova’s Radu Albot for a place in the last 16.