Reuters
Carlos Alcaraz [Source: Reuters]
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz was troubled by a groin injury during his 6-1 7-6(3) second-round win over Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor at the Paris Olympics tennis tournament, but he hoped he would be pain-free in time for his doubles match.
Alcaraz is set to play with Rafa Nadal in the second round of the Olympic doubles tournament.
Despite suffering from some discomfort, the manner of his victory proved that Alcaraz would be hard to beat at Roland Garros.
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 Nadal beaten by Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz appeared determined to show he was ready to take up the baton, breaking Griekspoor immediately and racing through the first set in 32 minutes.
But the Dutchman, ranked 28th in the world, made a better fist of it in the second set. He repeatedly held his serve under intense pressure, giving back as much as Alcaraz threw at him and at times forcing the Spaniard into some uncharacteristic errors.
When the match went to a tiebreak, Alcaraz stepped up the pace and showed his subtlety to win the match.
In the third round, Alcaraz will play Russian Roman Safiullin, the world number 66, who is competing as a neutral athlete.
