By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) -Carlos Alcaraz produced his usual mix of poise, pace and power to see off Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 6-3 6-4 6-2 and reach the second round of the French Open on Monday.
The defending champion wasted little time seeing off the world number 310 on the Suzanne Lenglen court at the Roland Garros stadium, setting up a meeting with Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan.
“It was really solid, the first round of a Grand Slam is never easy, especially coming here as the defending champion,” Alcaraz said to a nearly packed court after his victory.
“I started well and kept a good pace during the match, I tried to be focused on my game, to get a good rhythm. I’m really proud of my start here at Roland Garros.”
Alcaraz quickly took the measure of his opponent and broke for 3-1 in the opening set as he dusted every corner of the court, setting the stage for a comfortable eighth straight win at the French Open.
Zeppieri offered more resistance in the second set, but Alcaraz snatched the decisive break in the seventh game and never looked back.
He wrapped it up on his second match point when Zeppieri netted a service return.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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