Carlos Alcaraz reaches the round of 16 at Roland Garros | ATP Tour

Roland Garros

Alcaraz reaches the round of 16 at Roland Garros

The Spaniard advanced in three sets

May 31, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz is already in the round of 16 at Roland Garros. This Friday night, the Spaniard, No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings, got rid of Sebastian Korda 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 and crossed into the second week of the tournament, where he will meet Felix Auger-Aliassime or Ben Shelton, who saw their match suspended with 5-4 for the Canadian.

“It was a very good match and I felt very good,” Alcaraz said. It was a very demanding match, but I am very happy with the way I performed in difficult moments. “I am very happy with my level of concentration from the first point to the last.”

The Spaniard, who reached the semifinals last year, losing to Novak Djokovic, seeks to take another step in Paris. After having won the US Open (2022) and Wimbledon (2023), Alcaraz has his sights set on Roland Garros, a tournament with a great historical tradition of Spanish champions.

For that, however, the champion of two Grand Slam titles will have to continue raising his level, as he has done since he debuted in the tournament due to the demands of his rivals.

Against Korda, whom he dominated his Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-1, including one of those victories in the third Roland Garros 2022, Alcaraz came out doubling down on caution after losing a set in the previous round against Jesper de Jong.

At the beginning, the Spaniard managed to break Korda’s serve, but immediately saw how the American returned the break to make it 1-1, a tie that remained throughout the first set until Alcaraz achieved a break (5-4) that gave him that opening set on a plate.

“Accept the long exchanges that are better for you,” Juan Carlos Ferrero, his coach, reminded him from the stands. And that was what Alcaraz did, who tried to stretch out the rallies with Korda to grow in wear and tear.

Far from giving up, Korda had a spectacular second set, which ended up fighting in the tiebreaker against an Alcaraz who also showed his best version, and who ended up taking the set as a reward for the aggressiveness and determination, two qualities that the No. 3 showed world to open an advantage that would end up being decisive.

Although Korda tried to keep the set level, Alcaraz looked for a way to tip the balance, continuing along the line that led him to win the previous round. Thus, the Spaniard quickly broke Korda’s serve, went up 3-1 and accelerated towards victory, which took him to the round of 16 of the tournament.

Alcaraz has a balance of 20 wins and 5 losses this year, and has added one title, the one he won at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.