French Open 2024: Carlos Alcaraz 'doesn't care who he plays,' says Alex Corretja as Spaniard stars on opening day

Published 26/05/2024 at 19:42 GMT

Eurosport expert Alex Corretja believes that his compatriot and world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz "does not care who he plays" when he's in the kind of mood that saw him comfortably proceed to the second round of the French Open after a comprehensive straight-sets win over JJ Wolf, the unseeded American. Mats Wilander added that he thought Alcaraz, who has been troubled by injury of late, looked "fresh".

Corretja says Alcaraz 'doesn't care who he plays' against at Roland-Garros

Carlos Alcaraz “doesn’t care who he plays” when he’s in the sort of mood that saw him secure a first-round victory over JJ Wolf at the French Open, believes Alex Corretja.

The 21-year-old Alcaraz, who had not played since his quarter-final exit in Madrid to Andrey Rublev at the start of May, raced into the second round of Roland-Garros 6-1 6-2 6-1 against the American qualifier.

The Spaniard has shown some patchy form this calendar year, especially since losing in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open to Alexander Zverev, and he has been blighted by small niggles that forced him to withdraw from the Rio Open and the Monte Carlo Masters.

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Questions were raised by Alcaraz’s supposed lack of match practice upon his arrival in Paris, but he appeared to dispel those concerns early with a confident performance on Court Philippe-Chatrier, and one that impressed Eurosport experts Alex Corretja and Mats Wilander.

“He looked much better than I thought [he would],” said Corretja.

“I was thinking that he may feel a bit insecure; erratic. Wolf is not the clay-court player you expect a tough match from, but I was feeling that Carlitos was hitting the ball nice and clean, he was moving great, and he looked quite calm considering that he hasn’t played for so long in the last few weeks.

“When you go on court and you feel like you’ve got control of the situation, it’s much better for the players, but once you’re waiting for the other guy to see what they’re going to do, that’s when you struggle.

“The fact that Alcaraz hits so hard on the forehand and backhand, he doesn’t care who he plays. That’s why he’s showed today again, even playing Wolf, he was just going for it and hitting winners and moving well.

“It’s a shame when you don’t depend on you, and you think, ‘[My opponent] is better than me,’, and that’s a horrible feeling.”

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Wilander emphasised Alcaraz’s mercurial ability, and predicted that the young Spaniard had many more Grand Slam titles to add to his two so far.

“We’re watching a two-time Grand Slam champion, but he’s going to win many, many, many more majors,” Wilander said.

“When you’re that sure of yourself, because you know you’re a great champion, I don’t think you need that many matches to get ready. If you practise hard and at 100 per cent, the psychology of winning tennis matches, Carlos Alcaraz knows that.

“That doesn’t change even if he doesn’t play many matches. I don’t think he needs confidence from winning matches because he’s so good and he can play in so many different ways on all surfaces. I think he looks fresh and it’s really cool to see him back.”