French Open 2023: Carlos Alcaraz pleased with ‘great level’ after getting off to flyer with big Flavio Cobolli win

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz cruised through his French Open first round clash with Italian Flavio Cobolli, demolishing the qualifier 6-0 6-2 7-5.

With seven matches ahead of him if he is to reach the final, Alcaraz appeared to be in no mood to wait to progress, but Cobolli would ultimately offer some battling resistance late on.

“It’s great to play here,” Alcaraz said. “This is my first time on [Court Suzanne] Lenglen, and it’s been a great court. I enjoy playing here, with such great energy from the crowd, returning to [Roland-Garros] at a great level.

“It’s not so good when you’re 5-4 down [in the third set], but I had to forget about that. I forgot about it quickly, and I played better at 6-5.”

The powerful Spaniard dominated in the early stages as he moved 3-0 up, and the world No. 1 would have been optimistic that he could step into the spot vacated by Rafael Nadal as the tournament favourite.

Cobolli is just a year younger than his opponent, but with no tournament wins to his name, the 21-year-old is ranked outside the top 400 and began as the clear underdog.

Alcaraz asserted his technical ability with a down-the-line drop shot, from deep, that left his opponent as stunned as the ball he failed to reach.

It took just 24 minutes for Alcaraz to win the first set. The tournament’s first seed was in such form that when Cobolli celebrated his first game at 2-1 down in the second, the Roland-Garros crowd responded with cheers and applause for his gumption.

With Indian Wells, Madrid Open, Argentina Open, and Barcelona Open titles to his name, Alcaraz brought his excellent 2023 form to the court, though Cobolli was able to get two games on the board but with nine unforced errors as he ceded the set 6-2 ahead of the decisive third.

A brief rally at 30-30 when Cobolli was 1-0 up in the third set saw him dominate but he clipped the net and sent the ball long, and the pressure was off when Alcaraz delivered a ruthless ace.

The Italian proved more resilient as he held his serve, and he earned himself two breakpoints with a wonderful recovery and sprint to the net to fire across Alcaraz, but he was not able to resist his rival.

That flash of genius spurred Alcaraz back to his determined best, as he peppered and tortured Cobolli with his drop shot, sealing the decisive break at 4-3.

Cobolli battled on and saved three match points, before amazingly breaking back to level the scores again.

However, he was unable to hold and world no. 1 refused to waste a second opportunity to serve for the win.

Speaking after the match, Alcaraz celebrated his victory and focused on his success rather than his late stumbles

“I try not to make too much of being on court,” said the youngster.

“I try to enjoy being on court. I love playing tennis, and that’s the most important thing. Stefanos [Tsitsipas] said that he started enjoying tennis [again] thanks to me. For me, it’s great, and it’s something I try to do in every match.

“Juan Carlos always tells me pre-match to enjoy it. He tells me he enjoys watching me play. It’s great to hear him say things like that.”

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