Carlos Alcaraz passes Sebastian Korda test to reach Roland Garros second week

Carlos Alcaraz continues to round into form after an injury-addled spring, scoring his most impressive win yet at Roland Garros by defeating Sebastian Korda, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

The No. 3 seed, who turned around an underwhelming start to his season with a title run at the BNP Paribas Open, was forced to miss two out of three clay-court Masters 1000 tournaments due to a persistent right forearm injury. Making his fourth main-draw appearance at Roland Garros, he hit through any injury doubts to play his best tennis when it mattered most against the No. 27 seed to avance in two hours and 39 minutes under the Court Philippe-Chatrier roof on Friday.

A semifinalist on the terre battue in 2023, Alcaraz has conducted most of his 2024 campaign under the roof thanks to an abysmal weather forecast that has seen rain interrupt much of the major’s first week of action. After sitting out the Internazionali BNL d’Italia to optimize his chances of a peak performance in Paris, the 21-year-old got off to a fast start against American J.J. Wolf and shook off a third-set hiccup to knock out Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong to reignite one of the more intriguing next gen (lower case) rivalries of this era with Korda.

The son of 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda, “Sebi” has played some of his best tennis on clay despite an affinity for faster courts, reaching his first Grand Slam second week at 2020 Roland Garros and winning his first ATP title in Parma the following spring. In four previous meetings, Korda’s only win over Alcaraz came on clay at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in 2022, when a streaking Alcaraz was fresh off his first Masters victory at the Miami Open.

Alcaraz avenged that defeat in style a month later at Roland Garros, and beat him again on grass last summer at Queen’s Club, but the 23-year-old Korda was in with a chance as the match got underway for Chatrier’s Friday evening session, having won an improbable Madrid doubles title with Jordan Thompson translating that success to singles, dropping just one set in his first two rounds. After a slow start, Korda got into gear after going down a set and a break, leveling the second set at three games apiece and ultimately forcing a tiebreaker.

The Sudden Death forced Alcaraz to produce some incredible tennis, rallying from an early mini-break deficit to secure a two-set lead behind a fearsome forehand—the shot that has been the most compromised by his forearm issue.

Unleashing a roar of emotion as longtime coach Juan Carlos Ferrero looked on, Alcaraz carried that momentum into the third set, opening the fourth game with a feathery drop shot and breaking serve behind a well-struck overhead.

Korda looked to keep things close, twice fending off a break point on serve two games later, but strong serving from Alcaraz put him a game away from his fifth straight Grand Slam second week—only missing the 2023 Australian Open, which he sat out due to injury.

Serving for the match, Alcaraz got to match point with a strong first serve and edged over the finish line with a final foray to net, clinching victory with a volley into the open court.

In the same half of the draw as Italian rival and reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz will next face the winner of a rain-delayed battle between American Ben Shelton and Canada's Félix Auger-Aliassime, whose Court 7 clash was suspended in the ninth game of the opening set. Alcaraz defeated Shelton in their only previous meeting last summer on a hard court in Canada, but trails Auger-Aliassime 3-2 in their head-to-head, though the Spaniard has won their last two matches.