Top favorite Carlos Alcaraz returned to the Olympic courts at Roland Garros for his second singles match, and he didn't disappoint with another strong showing.
The Spaniard's second-round opponent at the 2024 Paris Olympics was Tallon Griekspoor, who is a tricky player who knows how to play on clay. The Dutchman nearly beat Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros earlier this year, which proves his qualities on the red dirt
He has a good serve, some good shots from both sides and, generally, he is a player who can be a problem. The problem with that is that Alcaraz is just the best player in the world. As the best player in the world, beating any type of player is much easier.
However, nobody expected things to be as easy in the opening set, as the score 6-1 looked very daunting. Griekspoor is certainly a much better player than that, but what went wrong?
Even the first match Alcaraz played in Paris didn't look this impressive, so what happened? Well, Griekspoor played far below his level. He played badly, especially on his serve.
He didn't serve well, which immediately created problems. He also didn't hit the ball well, totaling double-digit unforced errors in the opening set. Alcaraz was also incredibly good, which started from the serve.
His dominance in the past two months has coincided with his strong serving. It does make a huge difference, and many careers have shown it. Jannik Sinner's recent ascension to stardom is proof of just how the serve can impact a player.
It's certainly done the same for Alcaraz, who can open the court up with his serve, and then it's usually over for his opponent. The Dutch player played much better in the second set, keeping Alcaraz away from too many chances.
The Spaniard tried and tried, but the Dutchman was playing really well and keeping him away from any breakpoints. By the time nine games were played in the second set, neither player saw a single break point, which was impressive from both.
Keeping serve on clay comfortably isn't that common, especially with talented players like these two. What helped Griekspoor keep his serve was that he was serving a bit better but mostly hitting far better.
He still sprayed the occasional unforced errors, but he was also able to hit more winners than his opponent, which is very impressive. The Dutch player is known to put together solid runs like this, and this was certainly that.
Still, the problem was that he couldn't do it on Alcaraz's serve. Whatever pressure he put on his serve, the return didn't do that, so the second seed was also comfortable in his games.
Alcaraz went off the court for a medical time out at 4-5 in the second set, but he continued playing. The Spaniard did look a bit off in these final moments of the match but he was able to get himself to a tie-break.
He played it a bit better with a 5-3 lead which he was able to hold for a 7-3 win in the tie-break to win the match 6-1, 7-6(3) and reach the third round of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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