Alcaraz Wins Roland Garros Qualifying Opener

  • Posted: May 25, 2021

Spanish teen Carlos Alcaraz moved one step closer to the main draw of Roland Garros with a 6-3, 6-3 win Tuesday over Lukas Lacko in the first round of qualifying. The seventh seed will take on Italy’s Andrea Pellegrino in the second round. 

Alcaraz, an 18-year-old ranked No. 94 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, won his fourth ATP Challenger in Oeiras last week. The title propelled him inside the Top 100 for the first time. He made his Grand Slam debut at this year’s Australian Open, where he qualified and won his first round. 

American Jenson Brooksby lost just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and takes on Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler next. Brooksby has accumulated a 19-2 record on the ATP Challenger Tour this year with three titles. The 20-year-old made waves at the US Open in 2019 when he qualified and upset Tomas Berdych in the first round. 

The highest seed to fall on the second day of qualifying action was third seed Dennis Novak. The Austrian was beaten by Spain’s Mario Vilella Martinez, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. Martinez has qualified for a Grand Slam main draw twice, but never in Paris. 

Elsewhere, Mackenzie McDonald ended Thanasi Kokkinakis’ bid 6-4, 6-4, Denis Kudla dismissed Mikael Torpegaard 6-1, 6-2 and Denis Istomin defeated Damir Dzumhur 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. 

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