Carlos Alcaraz looked far more comfortable today than in the previous match at the 2022 Barcelona Open, as he took down a tricky opponent in Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-3.
Carlos Alcaraz faced Jaume Munar in Rio a couple of months ago, and the young superstar had quite a few issues in the first set, dropping it 2-6. He rallied in strong fashion, winning 6-2 6-1, and that blueprint was repeated today once more.
Alcaraz looked far more comfortable in this match than against Soonwoo Kwon in round two, and it showed in his game. His serving was on point, play from the baseline was good enough, the drop shots were working, and Munar had nothing to offer against Alcaraz.
It was a match in which Alcaraz avoided playing long rallies against Munar, who loves playing longer ones. The Spaniard will have to play the second match later today, and he was very aware of that, and that's why he has adjusted his game to it.
The reason is quite simple: there have been downpours of rain in Barcelona over the past 24 hours, and it's a situation that all the players have to deal with. Alcaraz dominated play on his serve and returned well, creating trouble for Munar on his second serve, and that was enough for a 6-3 first-set win.
The second set opened in a similar fashion. Alcaraz took an early break from Munar, who simply could not counter Alcaraz from the baseline. Not enough power and not enough precision were too much to overcome.
Ultimately, he added another break to the first one to win the match 6-3, 6-3. He is set to play another difficult match, as he'll face either the recent Monte-Carlo Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas or Grigor Dimitrov in the next round later today.