The French Open is now in full swing, and Carlos Alcaraz safely secured his passage into round two.
Alcaraz came through in straight sets against lucky loser Giulio Zeppieri, winning 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and he will be heavily fancied to prevail against Hungarian player Fabian Marozsan in round two.
The Spaniard was in fine form during his first match, and after it, Alcaraz was asked about not playing on Philippe Chatrier despite being the defending champion.
However, that sort of thing is not something that Alcaraz worries too much about, and he will simply want to keep progressing through the tournament as he looks to defend his title.
With one title to his name at Roland Garros, the tennis world will be curious as to whether Alcaraz can get anywhere near the 14 titles won by compatriot Rafael Nadal.
Now, Reilly Opelka has had his say on the matter…
Reilly Opelka predicts whether Carlos Alcaraz will win more than 10 French Open titles
Alcaraz will want to defend his crown this year and prove that he’s got the same sort of fear factor on clay that Nadal carried with him across his career.
The 22-year-old has such a bright future ahead of him, and it will be fascinating to see where he will end up in terms of Grand Slams won when his career draws to a close.
Opelka is unsure over whether he can get to double figures at the French Open, however, believing he might have more chance of doing that at Wimbledon.
He told the Nothing Major podcast: “I think he could. Or double-digit Wimbledon wins.
“Carlos is so young still. It’s crazy. The thing is, if he doesn’t win or misses this year, his chances of that happening are going to go down massively.
“If you are turning 24 with only two French Open titles, you are probably not going to get 10 of them before you retire.”
Alcaraz can eclipse Nadal but not at the French Open
It’s a fairly safe bet to presume that nobody is getting close to the 14 titles won by Nadal at the French Open any time soon.
As Opelka rightly says, it’s going to be hard for Alcaraz to do it, and he really would need to win title after title for a few years if he’s to make a go of reaching his total.
Alcaraz can get beyond the 23 Grand Slam titles won by Nadal, however, with the competition likely to be less fierce when he’s in his prime than it used to be.
Nadal had to compete with the best version of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, whilst the likes of Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka were also in the mix.
On today’s tour, there are a number of players yet to win their first Grand Slam, and that should see Alcaraz win many Grand Slams as long as he stays fit.
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