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The 20-year-old has already cemented his status
as a top contender on the biggest stages and is one of the
favourites to take on the mantle of his compatriot and 14-times
Roland Garros champion Rafa Nadal, who is absent this year with
a hip issue.
"I feel the love from the people," Alcaraz said. "I don't know
if they are Nadal fans or not, but I felt the energy from the
crowd. I felt the love, and it was great to feel that."
Alcaraz, who missed the Australian Open in January due to a leg
injury, was impressive in his first Grand Slam match since his
U.S. Open triumph last year and was ruthless as he raced through
the opening set.
A fourth break of the contest early in the second set handed
Alcaraz, who won the claycourt tournaments in Barcelona and
Madrid, the advantage again before Cobolli finally got on the
board in his main draw debut at the majors.
Alcaraz comfortably served out to go two sets up but the
159th-ranked Cobolli held his own and threatened to mount a late
fightback as he broke to level the third set at 5-5 with some
ripping forehands.
However, the top seed stepped up another gear to ensure Cobolli
- who promised to get a tattoo of the Roland Garros logo after
his qualifying run - would leave the tournament with an abiding
image of a chastening defeat.
Up next for Alcaraz is Japan's Taro Daniel who eased past
Australian Christopher O'Connell 6-0 6-2 6-4.
"I know that Taro is having a great year," Alcaraz said of his
opponent, who stunned last year's Roland Garros runner-up Casper
Ruud en route to the quarter-finals in Mexico earlier this
season.
"He's playing great. He has won great matches against great
players. And of course he won easy against O'Connell... I know
the level of Taro, so it's going to be a really tough second
round, really tough match."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar Editing by Toby Davis)
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