Carlos Alcaraz, a 16-year-old wonder, defeated Argentine lucky loser Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 on Sunday to start his French Open campaign in style.
Alcaraz was in full flight as he tore through 10 games in a row from 6-4, 2-2. The victory extended his clay-court winning streak to 11 matches in a row, improving to 29-3 on the season.
The 19-year-old has returned to the French capital as the No.6 seed and one of the overwhelming tournament favourites — and he showed why in his straight set victory over lucky loser Juan Ignacio Londero on Court Philippe-Chatrier. He now meet fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The teenager, who reached the third round as a qualifier in Paris last year, has dominated the tennis world this season with four titles and is one of the title favourites at the French Open.
Alcaraz showed some signs of frustration as things got tense in the 10th game of the opening set, but the Spaniard bagged it on his first opportunity when Londero netted a routine backhand.
A wide forehand by Londero gave Alcaraz a break for 4-2 in the French Open second set.
French Open: Alcaraz demonstrates his killer instinct at Roland Garros
His destructive forehand kept wreaking havoc on a hapless Londero, who misfired once more on set point to gift Alcaraz the victory.
As the sun sank over the French Open arena, the third set was a one-sided affair that lasted only a half-hour.
“I’ve been watching this event since I was a kid,” Alcaraz, who is in the same half of the draw as Rafael Nadal, the 13-time French Open champion, and defending champion Novak Djokovic, told a courtside interviewer.
“It took a while for me to find my range and adjust to the court’s size.”
Alcaraz standout performance came from his powerful serve, where he won 83% (34/41) of points behind his first serve and 62% (16/26) from his second serve. Most importantly, he didn’t face a single break point in the match, and he converted on six of his own 12 break chances.
