ATP Tour

Alcaraz settles in, ousts Michelsen in Paris opener

Carlos Alcaraz needed some time to settle into his first match at the Rolex Paris Masters, but the Spaniard found his groove to start his title bid on Thursday at the ATP Masters 1000 event, where he is seeking his first trophy.

The 23-year-old overcame a slow start to down Michelsen 7-6(4), 6-3 and advance to the third round. After letting slip an early break advantage in the opening set, Alcaraz trailed 1/4 in the tie-break, but reeled off six consecutive points to move ahead. The Spaniard then claimed a key break at 4-3 in the second set and ultimately advanced after one hour and 41 minutes.

"I broke early, but I made a couple of mistakes [after]," Alcaraz said following his victory. "He was playing great. It was difficult because he was solid from the baseline... But I am just happy with everything: with my first match and with the feeling I got today. Just can't wait to be back on court tomorrow."

Alcaraz clinched an early break to take a 3-2 lead in the opening set, but Michelsen broke the Spaniard back in the next game. Despite struggling with uncharacteristic errors, the Spaniard eventually found his rhythm in the tie-break, unleashing his forehand wing to claim the opening set.

From there on, the 23-year-old maintained his composure and remained largely solid behind serve to close out the match and improve to 11-0 in opening matches this year. The World No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings now leads 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Michelsen. Alcaraz also defeated the American earlier this season in Tokyo.

With his victory in Paris on Wednesday, the 23-year-old extended his winning streak to six matches, having clinched his fourth tour-level title of 2026 last week at the ATP 500 event in Vienna. Alcaraz is now 39-5 for the season, according to the ATP Infosys Win/Loss Index.

Awaiting the 28-time tour-level champion next in the French capital is Matteo Berrettini. Earlier in the day, Matteo Berrettini defeated home hope and 2024 finalist Ugo Humbert 7-6(3), 7-5 in one hour and 46 minutes. Alcaraz leads 3-1 in his rivalry with the Italian.

After Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe, Alex de Minaur, Rafael Jodar and Novak Djokovic all lost in the second round in Paris, Alcaraz is only one of three Top-10 seeds remaining in the draw, alongside third seed Ben Shelton and sixth seed Arthur Fils. Alcaraz's best result at the French Masters 1000 event came in 2021, when he reached the quarter-finals, and he is trying to win his first trophy at the tournament.