World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain announced on Thursday that he is fit and ready to play after missing the Madrid Open because of a groin injury.
The third seed faces Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic on Friday in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
“I’m really happy to be here in Rome,” Alcaraz said. “It’s the second time that I’m going to play here, so I’m excited. The practices were great so far. I’m in good shape. I’m 100 percent ready to start the tournament. So I just can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open on April 24 over what the ATP Tour classified as a right adductor muscle strain. He sustained hamstring and groin injuries during the second set of the Barcelona Open final on April 20, losing to sixth-seeded Holger Rune.
The Rome tournament, one of three ATP Masters 1000 events on clay, is a precursor to the French Open starting on May 25. Alcaraz had missed Rome in 2024 because of injury.
Alcaraz, who is 24-5 this season with two titles, said he had to “stop a little bit” to recovery from his injury, but he “wasn’t worried at all.”
“So right now, yeah, I have confidence,” said Alcaraz, who turned 22 on Monday. “The practices have been well. Just excited to start the tournament. Obviously, I would say the first round in every tournament is never easy; you have to get used to the conditions, the tournament, the court, everything.”
Straight-set victories dominated the results in Thursday’s opening round. Winners included Spain’s Pedro Martinez Portero and Roberto Bautista Agut, Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik and qualifier Alexander Shevchenko, Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, Italian wild card Matteo Gigante, Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic and the Netherlands’ Jesper de Jong.
Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, a 2024 finalist, downed Hugo Gaston 7-6 (4), 6-4. Jarry lost to champion Alexander Zverev last year.
In an all-Italian battle, wild card Luca Nardi defeated Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4. Argentina’s Mariano Navone eliminated Italian wild card Federico Cina 6-3, 6-3.
Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner won in a walkover when Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena retired after dropping the first set 6-3.
Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan emerged with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Brazil’s Joao Fonseca in one hour, 28 minutes. Marozsan dropped just five points on serve, won 75 percent of his first-serve points (30 of 40) and converted 2 of 3 break-point opportunities.
Marozsan had defeated Alcaraz in 2023 en route to the fourth round in his Rome debut.
Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild knocked of Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Spain’s Jaume Munar also went three sets to oust Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
American Marcos Giron rallied past Canadian Gabriel Diallo 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. In an all-American match, Learner Tien defeated Reilly Opelka 6-4, 7-6 (11).
–Field Level Media
