After rolling in Roland Garros opener, Carlos Alcaraz says his Paris expectations 'probably got higher'

If there’s a theme on the men’s side at Roland Garros so far, it’s “low expectations.” No one with a chance to win the tournament, it seems, is willing to profess much self-confidence at the moment.

Novak Djokovic, who has won more majors than any other man, said on Sunday that he comes to Paris with “low expectations but high hopes.”

Rafael Nadal, despite being a 14-time champion here, said that “playing incredible” will be “something very difficult to make happen.”

Jannik Sinner, who won the Australian Open this year, but is recovering from a hip injury, said his “general physical shape is not where I want it to be.”

And even after at 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 blowout win over J.J. Wolf on Sunday, third seed Carlos Alcaraz maintained that, “Honestly, I’m with low expectations coming into this week.”

How much of this self-skepticism is legitimate, and how much is an attempt to relieve some pressure as the year’s second Slam gets underway? That’s always a difficult question to answer at the start of a major. For his part, Alcaraz appears to have a real reason to downplay his chances. He injured his right forearm at the start of the clay swing last month, missed Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, and looked as if he was afraid to swing all-out in Madrid.

This weekend he said he said that he was still “a little scared” to hit his forehand 100%, and he showed up for his match with Wolf with his right arm in a sleeve. He also seemed to be holding back again on his forehand side. Alcaraz did hit 27 winners in total over three quick sets, but in general, he was solid rather than spectacular from the forehand side. He didn’t need to be much more than that against Wolf, a lucky loser who never really loosened up.

“I think today was a really good match,” said Alcaraz, who made 70% of his first serves and pushed Wolf to commit 35 forced errors. “I played a really high level.”

“Obviously, I’m still feeling weird, let’s say, or afraid to hit every forehand, 100%,” he said. “It’s still in my mind, but after the match I didn’t feel anything, which is really, really good for me.”

An injury never helps, nor does pain when you swing, but is it possible that Alcaraz might benefit from dialing back his forehand at certain times? Overhitting, and trying to wow the crowd with jaw-dropping winners, has been a weakness of his up until now—it might be his only one. If he thinks twice before pulling the trigger now and then, that might not be a bad thing in the coming rounds.

Of course, it would be better for Alcaraz if he has the option of swinging all-out. He’s in a quarter with two late-round contenders, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev; the latter beat Alcaraz when he wasn’t at his best in Madrid. And his potential third-round opponent, Sebastian Korda, has beaten him before on clay as well. But grinding, rather than blasting the ball, is usually a sound strategy on dirt.

After his win over Wolf, Alcaraz was willing to show a little more hope for his future in Paris.

“You know, all I can say is I’m feeling great on the court,” he said. My expectations probably got higher after this match, but let’s see.”