Carlos Alcaraz Powers Through His Opening Match In Rome

Carlos Alcaraz came through his opening match in Rome in an hour and twenty-five minutes against compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas despite a sloppy start in the first set. Ramos-Vinolas was able to break Alcaraz right from the start and take the lead 1-2 before Alcaraz got comfortable and broke back in the fourth game to bring the score to 2-2. Alcaraz then clinched the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.

He will be facing Jiri Lehecka or Fabian Marozsan in the next round. Alcaraz will be looking to claim his 5th Masters and 11th overall title at this event.

© Corinne Dubreuil / ATP Tour

This is Carlos Alcaraz's first appearance at the Rome Masters, and the opening match marks his 12th consecutive win, and puts him back on top of the ATP Pepperstone rankings. He will be the top seed going into Roland Garros after overtaking Novak Djokovic on the rankings.

Novak and Alcaraz are in the same part of the draw and we most definitely wish to see another matchup between the top 2 players. Carlos Alcaraz currently leads their head2head 1-0. 

There have been several upsets at the Rome Masters on both the men’s and women’s tours with many of the seeds losing their opening match. Eight men’s seeds including Felix Auger-Aliassime(10), Karen Khachanov(11), Hubert Hurkac(14) and nine women’s seeds including Aryna Sabalenka(2), Jessica Pegula(3), Ons Jabeur(4) have lost their opening match in Rome. This increases the chances for some of the non-seeded players to come through. I believe that there are many more exciting matches to come before the French Open.