By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, November 2, 2022
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz swept Yoshihito Nishioka and streaking Felix Auger-Aliassime rallied past Mikael Ymer 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 to advance in Paris.
Photo credit: Aurelien Meunier/Getty
Calculation wasn't part of the pre-match curriculum for Carlos Alcaraz.
The world No. 1 played major number cruncher anyway.
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Launching his quest to retain the top spot in the rankings, Alcaraz overpowered Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-4 to race into the Rolex Paris Masters round of 16.
US Open champion Alcaraz launched the tournament with 36-year-old compatriot Rafael Nadal returning to action with a shot to supplant the 19-year-old Spaniard as world No. 1. If Nadal takes the title for the first time and Alcaraz bows before the quarterfinals, then the 22-time Grand Slam king will return to the top spot.
"I would say I played really well," Alcaraz told the media in Paris. "Of course I have too many things to improve after the first round. But first round is never easy.
"I have to get used to these conditions that is so difference than Basel, you know. I serve well, I go to the net well, and the baseline I play very well as well. But I'm looking for the next round, get better."
Wearing black kinesiology tape snaking around his creaky left knee, Alcaraz delivered more than four times as many winners as the Japanese left-hander—30 to 7—and won 11 of 12 trips to net.
It all added up to a clean 72-minute victory that raises Alcaraz's record to 56-12 on the season.
Alcaraz can ensure he retains the top spot for at least another week by beating Grigor Dimitrov for a quarterfinal spot.
Former world No. 3 Dimitrov won 25 of 29 first-serve points drilling Italian lucky loser Fabio Fognini 6-0, 7-5.
The top seed won 12 of his first 13 service points and scored the first break in the fifth game as he cruised out to a 4-2 lead. Nishioka, who knocked off US Open finalist Casper Ruud in Seoul on September 30th, broke back in the eighth game to level 4-4. Alcaraz broke right back for 5-4.
Serving for the set, Alcaraz flicked a fine forehand volley and bolted a stinging serve for set points. On his second set point, Alcaraz pushed the Japanese well off the court with a wide slider serve then tomahawked a forehand crosscourt closing a one-set lead in 37 minutes.
The teenager charged through 15 of his last 16 service points to close the win.
Earlier, red-hot Felix Auger-Aliassime stretched his career-best winning streak to 14 matches with a rousing 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(6) comeback conquest of Mikael Ymer.
Fresh off his winning three consecutive championships in Florence, Antwerp and Basel, Auger-Aliassime was on the brink of an early exit staring down a 6-7, 1-4 deficit to the Swedish qualifier.
Auger-Aliassime answered smacking 11 aces and saving 14 of 17 break points in a gripping three hour, 30-minute victory.
The eighth-seeded Canadian raised his record to 54-24 overall and an ATP Tour-best 25-4 indoors this season.
Next up for Auger-Aliassime is a round-of-16 meeting vs. either Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz or French wild card Gilles Simon.