By Karolos Grohmann
PARIS (Reuters) – World number one Carlos Alcaraz bludgeoned Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-1 6-4 6-2 on Friday to breeze into the French Open fourth round and edge closer to the second Grand Slam title of his career.
The Spaniard was imperious and showed no mercy in the first set, whipping winners past the hapless 24-year-old who visibly struggled to keep up with his opponent’s speed and quickly fell 5-0 behind.
The 26th-seeded Canadian snatched a game to avoid a bagel and celebrated with a big smile but it was a temporary reprieve as Alcaraz easily wrapped up the first set in 35 minutes.
The 20-year-old Spaniard, looking to add his first French Open title to his U.S Open triumph, eased off in the second set, allowing Shapovalov, who started moving better, to carve out a 4-1 lead.
Order, however, was quickly restored with Alcaraz rattling off the next five games and winning nine of the last 10 points to reel him in and go two sets up.
He then broke again at the start of the third set before a dizzying backhand down the line put him 4-1 ahead.
The top seed put Shapovalov out of his misery on his second match point to set up a clash with Italy’s 17th seed Lorenzo Musetti.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
