Carlos Alcaraz given a warning after ‘distracted’ performance as Spaniard makes ‘scared’ confession

Shahida Jacobs 30 May 2024 7:46 AM

Carlos Alcaraz in action

Carlos Alcaraz has been told “he will need to up his level” after “he got himself in a spot of bother” during his second-round match at the French Open while the two-time Grand Slam winner admitted he had concerns over his forearms during the encounter.

After cruising to a three-set win over JJ Wolf in the first round, Alcaraz produced an erratic display against qualifier Jesper De Jong on Wednesday as he lost his first service game of the match, dropped the third set and was also broke twice in the fourth set.

The third seed still came away with a 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 victory against the Dutchman and will meet either Sebastian Korda or Kwon Soon-woo in the third round.

Former British No 1 Tim Henman says although Alcaraz will be pleased to get through, there is a still a lot of work to do.

“I think we can come at this match from so many different angles,” he told Eurosport.

“We often say it’s great when you can still win when you’re not playing your best, but for me there’s still a few question marks which will probably be answered further down the road.

“Probably around his arm, how is he really feeling, and his attitude and concentration. I just felt like he was a little bit distracted.

“I think in normal circumstances when he’s 100% fit, healthy, he’s played matches, he runs away with that in three straight sets. He definitely got himself in a spot of bother in the third set.

“I think De Jong deserves a lot of credit because he was loving his opportunity out there playing on Philippe-Chatrier. He’s come through qualifying and had a good win against [Jack] Draper in the opening round. Alcaraz will be pleased to get through that. For sure, he’ll need to up his level if he’s going to progress.”