“I’m a complete player”: Alcaraz dominates Shapovalov to reach Roland-Garros last 16

Carlos Alcaraz beat Denis Shapovalov 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on Friday evening. He’ll play Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 17 seed, in the next round

Carlos Alcaraz Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in action during his third round match against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in the third round of Roland-Garros (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)
French Open 2023 Men's Singles •Third round • completed
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In their inaugural meeting, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, advanced to the last 16 of Roland-Garros by winning against Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the No 26 seed, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 at Stade Roland-Garros in Paris on Friday evening.

Alcaraz is now 33-3 for the season, with four titles, and 23-2 on clay alone.

“I’m a complete player,” Alcaraz said in his press conference afterwards. “You know, I would say the stronger thing that I have on court is that I push to the limit, I push the opponent to the limit every time. He has to do great things, great stuff to work on my — to overcome me.

“I would say that, that I’m over there every point playing great points. And I don’t lose the focus. I would say that’s my strong, you know, thing on court.”

Musetti leads head to head

Shapovalov is currently ranked world No 32, which must have given Alcaraz some confidence; the Spaniard went into the match 21-2 against opponents ranked outside the Top 20 in Slams.

Alcaraz, ranked No 1, will face Lorenzo Musetti, the No 17 seed, next. The two have played once before – with the Italian triumphing in the Hamburg final.

Ahead of his victory, the 20-year-old Spaniard defeated Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli (6-0, 6-2, 7-5) and Japanese Taro Daniel (6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2).

Shapovalov, ranked No 32, beat American Brandon Nakashima (6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3) and Italian Matteo Arnaldi (6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3) in the previous rounds.

This was the ninth time Shapovalov had faced a world No 1, and the ninth time he had been beaten.

Paris (Grand Slam), other third-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000, most recent results first):

  • Alexander Zverev vs. Frances Tiafoe
  • Daniel Altmaier vs. Grigor Dimitrov
  • Francisco Cerundolo vs. Taylor Fritz
  • Holger Rune vs. Genaro Alberto Olivieri
  • Borna Coric vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
  • Nicolas Jarry vs. Marcos Giron
  • Yoshihito Nishioka vs. Thiago Seyboth Wild
  • Zhizhen Zhang vs. Casper Ruud
  • Juan Pablo Varillas vs. Hubert Hurkacz: friday
  • Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Diego Schwartzman: 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
  • Lorenzo Musetti beat Cameron Norrie (14): 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
  • Novak Djokovic (3) beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-2
  • Sebastian Ofner (Q) beat Fabio Fognini: 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
  • Lorenzo Sonego beat Andrey Rublev (7): 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3
  • Karen Khachanov (11) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis (WC): 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5)

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