Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 26, 2024 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after winning his first round match against JJ Wolf of the United States REUTERS/Yves Herman
PARIS (Reuters) - Third seed Carlos Alcaraz made a winning start in his bid to claim a first French Open title when he beat American J.J. Wolf 6-1 6-2 6-1 without any issues on his troublesome arm on Sunday.
Last year's semi-finalist arrived at Roland Garros with only four matches under his belt on clay due to a right forearm problem that forced him to skip Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, with his Madrid title defence also derailed by the problem.
Having admitted he still had lingering worries and sporting a compression sleeve, the 21-year-old Spaniard drew a few gasps from the crowd on Philippe Chatrier court when he dropped serve in the first game of the contest but he responded instantly.
Wolf, a lucky loser from the qualifying tournament making his second appearance in the Paris main draw, struggled to keep up with his opponent thereafter and the 25-year-old was broken three times in a one-sided opening set.
Under grey skies, Alcaraz quickly doubled his advantage in the contest and then raced ahead 3-0 under the roof in the third set, after rain began falling, before closing out the match when Wolf sent a shot long.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; editing by Clare Fallon)
