French Open preview: Carlos Alcaraz. The king is dead, long live the king!

The turn of May and June is reserved in the tennis world for the French Open. The second Grand Slam of the season is hosted by Paris and the Musketeers’ Cup is traditionally contested by the world’s top players. Let’s take a look at the biggest favourites for the only clay grand slam on the circuit.

The first round of Roland Garros starts on Sunday 28 May. In the previous previews we have already presented the ambitions of last year’s semi-finalist Alexander Zverev. We also got to see world number seven Russian Andrey Rublyov and fresh winner from Rome Daniil Medvedev.

Canadian Auger-Aliassime and ambitious Dane Holger Rune also got their chance. The freshest contributions so far have been devoted to two-time Grand Slam finalist Greco Tsitsipas and playing legend Novak Djokovic. Finally, we bring you a look at fresh world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

Carlos Alcaraz

The 20-year-old Spaniard’s biggest weapons are his forehand and stop shots. His forehand is one of the most dangerous on the circuit, and it’s reliable. Alcaraz’s well-disguised and well-executed stopballs are the talk of the tennis world.

Incredibly successful is the Spaniard’s shortening of the game from the forehand side, which is less typical in these shots. Words of praise regularly go to Alcaraz’s movement, speed and flexibility. All of these combine to create a lethal cocktail for his opponents, especially on clay.

Last year, he entered Roland Garros as a 19-year-old and was immediately the dark horse at the second Grand Slam of the season. After all, the week before he was the first player in history to beat Nadal and Djokovic in one clay tournament.

The French Open itself proved “Carlito’s” ambitions, even though he was on the verge of elimination in the second round. Against his experienced compatriot Ramos-Vinolas, he was down 1: 2 in sets and only won the fourth set in a tiebreak. In the end, he advanced, did not lose a set in the next two matches and finished his journey through the Paris Grand Slam in the quarterfinals against German Zverev.

Current form

One year on, Carlos Alcaraz starts the French Open as the number one seed. Last year he managed to win his first Grand Slam at the US Open and his results this year are unrivalled. He triumphed at the Masters in Indian Wells and on clay, after his initial success in Buenos Aires, he defended his victory at the prestigious “thousand” in Barcelona and Madrid.

Without losing a set, Alcaraz overcame his compatriot Davidovich Fokina, Greek Tsitsipas and Russian Khachanov, the 11th player in the world, at the Spanish events. In a repeat of last year’s French Open quarter-final, the Spaniard allowed only three games to Zverev.

In the last major event before Roland Garros, two significant events happened. The Murcia native secured his position as world number one by reaching the second round and then surprisingly lost to Hungarian Marozsan. It was the Spaniard’s only defeat during the clay court season of April and May. His overall record this year is dazzling, winning thirty of his thirty matches.

Finally..

Spanish tennis once again has a hot favourite to win the French Open title. In the absence of 14-time champion Nadal, it will be Carlos Alcaraz.

The king is dead, long live the king, I might add. Sure, the possible successor to the star Nadal will only be fighting for his first triumph in Paris, but at just twenty years of age, time is on his side.

Source: ATP