Carlos Alcaraz dazzles 26th seed Denis Shapovalov 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
Post Date – 10:55 AM, Saturday – 6/3/23
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia of Spain hits a forehand back against Denis Shapovalov of Canada during the men’s singles match on the sixth day of the Roland-Garros Open Tennis Tournament at Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris, June 2, 2023. (Photo: AFP)
Paris: The Carlos Alcaraz freight train goes faster and faster as it rolls around the 2023 French Open circuit.
Top seed and world number one Alcaraz wasn’t stopping on Friday night as the Spaniard beat No. 26 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the round of 20. Seed Denis Shapovalov, outstanding – year-old, reports rolandgarros.com.
Alcaraz’s 23rd victory on clay this season (with just two losses) sees him advance to the fourth round, where Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti awaits. The Musetti have their only previous encounter: a three-set classic in the final in Hamburg last year, on clay.
Alcaraz struck first and took a 4-0 lead after just 19 minutes. Shapovalov won just one match, but the first set belonged to Alcaraz, who took a 6-1 lead after 37 minutes.
The undaunted Shapovalov showed his prowess at the start of the second set, with the two players exchanging three breaks and the 24-year-old leading 4-1 thanks in part to a The inside-out forehand winner came from Shapovalov.
However, the lead was short-lived as Alcaraz held and then won a crucial 16-shot rally to earn break point. An unforced error by Shapovalov restored the break lead for the second time in the set, and then the pair might have hit the point of the match, a cat-and-mouse chase when Alcaraz forehanded At bat, both sides had a string of lob winners into open court.
At 4-all now, Shapovalov cannot stop Alcaraz’s momentum. The Spaniard broke serve for the fourth straight game and went on to close the match 6-4 in the next game.
Shapovalov left the court to use the toilet to rest and recover, but the writing was on a wall of clay: Alcaraz broke and consolidated in the third to take a 2-0 lead.
Shapovalov, who would win a four-way tie to tie the score at 1-2, let out a guttural growl, but he was unable to make any further sound on Alcaraz’s serve and was 4-1 in the first. A second break almost secured the top seed’s victory.
Shapovalov made 39 unforced errors in two hours and 10 minutes, a devastating stat for Alcaraz.
Shapovalov also struggled with his serve, winning only 56 percent of his first serves and winning just 51 percent of his points.
Aside from his hiccup in the second set, Alcaraz encountered no break points in the match, and he hit 73 percent of his own first serves.
As usual, Alcaraz was relentless: He hit 25 winners and went 21 of 29 from the field. He threw 14 lobs in the game, including four absolute game-winners, and won 55 percent of his catches while breaking Shapovalov seven times.
