Day 6 - Under the lights: That winning smile

There is nothing complicated about Carlos Alcaraz: he loves what he does and when he smiles, he usually wins. And he is smiling here in Paris.

 - Alix Ramsay

The past few months have not been easy for Alcaraz. The man with the piledriver of a forehand – a forehand that has already won him the US Open and Wimbledon titles – has been struggling with an injury to his right forearm since March.

He was only able to play in Madrid during the clay court run-in to Roland-Garros and when he got here, he was still not confident that he could unleash that forehand at full pelt. But two matches into the tournament, the smile is back and he is feeling much better about life.

“I think the arm is 100 per cent,” he said after his first match. “It's still in my mind, but I didn't feel anything after the match, I didn't feel anything, which is really, really good for me. So I can say it's full recovered; all I can say is I'm feeling great on the court.”

Do not worry about that sleeve on his right arm, either. Alcaraz’s physio told him that it did serve some purpose but he cannot for the life of him remember what it is. All he knows is that if he wears it, he will be fine. 

“I just wear it just in case,” he explained, “because everybody's told me that it helps my mind in a certain way just to try to forget everything in my forearm. That's why I'm wearing this.”

Carlos Alcaraz / Deuxième tour, Roland-Garros 2024©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT

His arm – and the rest of him – will be put to the test today against Sebastian Korda. The American is the son of Petr Korda, the former Australian Open champion, and the brother of Nelly and Jessica, both professional golfers. Poor Seb doesn’t even have bragging rights in his own family.

Back on the tennis court, Korda is climbing back to his best after a wrist injury last year. He has played Alcaraz four times with only one win but he is still looking forward to the occasion.

“He's been one of the best clay courters in the last couple of years,” Korda said, “so it's obviously going to be very difficult. We've played here probably two years ago to the day, a third round, exactly. A night match as well. Yeah, it's going to be a fun experience.” 

Sebi was smiling as he spoke. But, worryingly for him, Carlos has been smiling all week. And when Carlos smiles, he usually wins.

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