Tennis

Tennis At Paris Olympics: Carlos Alcaraz Races Into Second Round

He will face Britain's Cameron Norrie or the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor in the second round, with the duo yet to face off due to rain suspending play on the outside courts

Carlos Alcaraz-tennis-paris olympics
Carlos Alcaraz in action on Saturday
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Carlos Alcaraz raced into the second round of the singles tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, beating Lebanon's Hady Habib 6-3 6-1. (Full Olympics Coverage | More Sports News)

The Spaniard – who captured his fourth grand slam title at Wimbledon earlier this month – needed just one hour and 12 minutes to overcome Habib, who is ranked 275th in the world by the ATP.

Alcaraz had to save break point in the very first game but immediately set about putting Habib under pressure from there, getting a quickfire break to take control of the opener.

Habib hit just three winners throughout the first set, with 16 unforced errors costing him as Alcaraz served with supreme confidence, only dropping one point in a span of six games on his own serve.

Another break in the first game of the second set had Alcaraz truly in charge, and he gave nothing away from then on as he eased to victory.

He will face Britain's Cameron Norrie or the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor in the second round, with the duo yet to face off due to rain suspending play on the outside courts.

Data Debrief: Alcaraz goes from strength to strength

Returning to the scene of last month's French Open triumph, Alcaraz was barely troubled as he improved his record at clay-court events to 12-3 for the year.

He was far too good for Habib on Saturday, slamming 26 winners to his opponents' five and causing problems whenever he was able to get to the net, where he won 13 of 16 points on approach (81%).

He will return to the court to partner Rafael Nadal in the doubles later on Sunday, versus Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.