During the post-match conference at the Paris Rolex Masters, after the positive 2nd round against Nicolas Jarry, the Spaniard Carlitos Alcaraz expressed his considerations regarding the conditions of the court, comparing the speed of the French court to those of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
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"I don't know if they are faster than the ones in Cincinnati. The truth is that my feeling was that this surface was the second fastest, behind Cincinnati. But it is very obvious that the ball slides as soon as it bounces. There is no choice but to get used to it, I think it is also difficult for the spectators: it will be difficult to see long rallies. You have to spend hours working on these courts, I feel good," explained the Spaniard, somewhat contradicting the impressions had by some insiders who had positioned the indoor hard court of Paris-Bercy as the fastest of the entire season.
Such fast surfaces have not been appreciated so much by the Spaniard, during the year: at the Cincinnati Open, Carlitos suffered an early defeat against Gael Monfils. In Paris he will certainly have a chance to redeem himself, waiting for the Nitto ATP Finals at the Inalpi Arena in Turin.
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Anyway, in general, it can be said that the 2nd round of Alcaraz was convincing and as expected. The 4-time Slam champion took two sets, only one of which was particularly hard-fought, to beat Chilean Jarry and reach the 3rd round of the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy. Carlitos is very motivated in this final part of the season to recover ground on Jannik Sinner: the Italian missed the French event due to a virus contracted in the days preceding the start of the tournament while the young Spaniard will be able to take advantage of this opportunity, considering a draw that is definitely within reach, at least until the semi-finals.
