There is hardly any debate on the debut of Carlos Alcaraz (20) in Paris.
In 24 minutes, the Murcian talent endorses a donut to Flavio Cobolli, another member of the reborn Italian school, and in 1h57m he dispatches the match (6-0, 6-2 and 7-5), practically a monologue from the first racket of the world, determined as he is to get rid of the shadow of Marozsan, that Hungarian who three weeks ago had interrupted him at the Foro Italico.
In that dizzying initial stage, Alcaraz overwhelms Cobolli (159th in the world, coming from the previous phase), and the Italian shrugs his shoulders as he smiles at his people, leaning out on the balcony of Suzanne Lenglen, as if to say:
-And what am I going to do?
Then, after the initial rosco, Cobolli seems to timidly recover.
He does it to shake off the tension, because vertigo begins to creep into his mind: is he going to say goodbye to Roland Garros by fitting a triple donut?
Start the second set and 1-0 for Alcaraz.
Then 2-0...
Finally, in the ninth game, Cobolli breaks the momentum.
A right hand from Alcaraz goes long and the Italian already has it 2-1 and celebrates it as if he had won the game, what a relief, there will be no triple rosco, and then something else is released.
He will still add another game, up to 4-2, before Alcaraz decides to give Alcaraz moments a free hand.
Now he deals drop shots, lobs and volleys, and such a display of magical tools disarms the Italian, this challenge is too big for him, it seems that his adventure in Paris is going to end very quickly, at least for this year.
-Go now! -the Italian arrives to shout after another moment Alcaraz, a crossed passing shot billed from the net.
The Italian calls out, desperate, but he also fights. And that's how he manages to break Alcaraz's serve, who loosens up in the last set and sees how the matter drags on too long, perhaps twenty minutes more than expected.
-What happened in the last set is not good. With 5-3 up and three match points, that should not happen. I don't feel good about what has happened there -the Murcian then tells Mats Wilander, with the victory in his pocket.
-And now you will review that moment?
-We always do it with the team, with Juan Carlos (Ferrero).
The step forward of Alcaraz (now the Japanese Taro Daniel awaits him) has occurred hours after the step forward of Novak Djokovic (36).
There are notable parallels between the two confrontations. As determined as he is to pick up the pace to shorten his time on court, Djokovic is going like a shot in the first two sets.
In a flash, the third world racket, the man who aspires to the feat of 23 Grand Slam titles, endorses two sets to the American Aleksandar Kovacevic. However, just like Alcaraz, Djokovic slowed down in the last set, and for that reason he had to end up resorting to the tie break to settle the duel (6-3, 6-2 and 7-6 (1)).
In the second round, Marton Fucsovics awaits him, a Hungarian like that Fabian Marozsan who days ago had turned Alcaraz's supposed quiet day in Rome into fatal torment.
