The highlight of Day 6 on the men’s side of the draw undoubtedly has to be the night match between Carlos Alcaraz and Sebastian Korda. The tournament favourite is 2-1 in main draws but did lose on clay to the American back in 2022 in Monte Carlo. The winner will play Ben Shelton or Felix Auger-Aliassime in round four, with the latter seemingly rounding into a bit of form.
While never in real danger against Jesper de Jong, Alcaraz may well have been disappointed to have dropped a set to the Dutchman. It was a fairly sloppy performance by his standards with 47 unforced errors in the 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2 win. He did raise his level when it mattered in the fourth, ensuring that a break deficit was soon erased on his way to victory. “As I have said many times, any player can put you in trouble,” Alcaraz said. “You have to be very focused every match and every point and every round. It does not matter if I am at the top of the rankings and playing someone outside the Top 100. You have to think you have to play at your best if you want to get through.”
Korda looked like the next young star to be approaching the top 10 after his breakthrough quarter final in Melbourne last year. However, a mix of injury and loss of form meant that he is still yet to crack even top 20. He now has a 5-4 record on the surface for the year after beating Soon-woo Kwon in four sets in the previous round.
Concerns over Alcaraz’s injury problems have been reduced after these two wins but he will be vulnerable against Korda if he shows the same level of sloppiness for good parts of the match. Korda is a much better player and will be well placed to punish Alcaraz if he struggles physically. The Alcaraz forehand has been looking good though so the American will need to minimise the damage that can be done there.
Prediction – Carlos Alcaraz in four sets
