The real test for Alcaraz in defending his title began at Shelton

01/06/2025 23:10:00 PANDATV

At 10 o'clock tonight, in the 1/8 finals of the 2025 French Open, defending champion Alcaraz ushered in the first real test of the defending title, because the opponent was the American left-handed cannon Shelton.

Born in October 2002, Sheldon, who is 1.93 meters tall and clapps his hands in his left hand, did not turn professional until 2022. Compared to Alcaraz, who was born in May 2003 and turned to professional tennis as early as 2018 at the age of 15, Sheldon made rapid progress and became famous, although he was almost 20 years old.

In the 2023 season, Sheldon quickly rose to prominence, soaring in the world rankings. The Australian Open reached the quarterfinals and entered the top 50 for the first time in the world rankings. The US Open went one step further to the semi-finals, reaching the top 20 for the first time in the world rankings. In the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters, Sheldon defeated Italian newcomer Wang Sinner and entered the quarterfinals of the Masters for the first time. Switching to ATP 500 Tokyo, Shelton won five straight matches to win the first title of his career, and climbed to a new high in the world rankings to No. 15. At the end of 2023, Sheldon is ranked 17th in the world rankings.

Shelton's remarkable accomplishments in his first year in professional tennis are remarkable, thanks to his powerful left-handed serve, violent forehand topspin shots, excellent movement and ever-improving technique at the net. For this, Australian tennis legend Rod Laver did not hesitate to praise: "Sheldon is my favourite young player, a rising star on the ATP Tour. His skills and tactics are more comprehensive, he doesn't make many mistakes in the game, and he has a strong ability to take chances. ”

The 2024 season of Shelton is not as dazzling as the 2023 season, the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open all reached the third round, Wimbledon reached the fourth round, and the Cincinnati Masters reached the quarterfinals, won the ATP 250 Houston clay championship, and was ranked 21st in the world at the end of the year. Sheldon is well aware of this, saying: "I didn't have many great results in the 2024 season, but I kept working hard every day. I believe that as long as I continue to work hard day after day, I will be able to achieve the desired results. ”

Heading into the 2025 season, Shelton went one step further to reach the semi-finals at the Australian Open, the quarter-finals at the Indian Wells Masters, and reached a career-high 12th in the world rankings. After a series of unexpected first-round rounds at the Masters in Miami and Monte Carlo, Shelton bottomed out at ATP 500 Munich and finished runner-up. After that, Sheldon hung up his exemption card and did not participate in the Madrid and Rome Masters, focusing on training and preparing for the French Open.

At the 2025 French Open, Sheldon is in great shape, sweeping his opponent without losing a set in three consecutive matches, ushering in the 1/8 finals with world No. 2 and defending champion Alcaraz. Against a menacing Sheldon, Alcaraz will have to brace himself and learn from the experience of two consecutive two-set victories in his career in 2023 and 2024.

Defending champions Alcaraz have been in decent form in the first three rounds of the 2025 French Open, and there is still plenty of room for improvement. Alcaraz lost in the second set of the second round to the Hungarian player Marosang, who had defeated him in the third round of the 2023 Rome Masters, and lost to the Bosnian veteran Dzuch in the third set of the third round.

But what happened in the fourth set of the fourth game against Dzuch in the third round cannot be forgiven and should be avoided!

Recall the third set against De Zuch, Alcaraz was broken in the seventh game and fell behind 3:4. In the eighth game, Alcaraz won three break points, but failed to achieve a break, so that he fell behind 3:5 and was a little frustrated. Alcaraz successfully held serve in the ninth game, won two break points in the tenth game and then a third, but still failed to break back, and finally lost the third set 4-6, Alcaraz was even more frustrated.

In the first game of the fourth set, Alcaraz was broken as soon as he came up and fell behind 0:1. In the second game, Alcaraz got three consecutive break points, but still failed to achieve a break, falling behind 0-2. At the end of the third set and the beginning of the fourth, Alcaraz won nine break points in three consecutive service games for De Zuch, but none of them were successful and broke back. How frustrated Alcaraz was at this time, the fans could feel it from the TV screen.

In the third game of the fourth set, Alcaraz held serve, and in the fourth game, Alcaraz finally couldn't control his frustration and exploded in anger: in the face of De Zuch's tennis ball that hit his ball back out of bounds, Alcaraz flew up with his right foot, kicked the tennis ball high to the opposite side, and finally disappeared. While marveling at Alcaraz's kung fu on his feet, fans couldn't help but worry about Alcaraz: if he kicked a tennis ball that hit the court staff or the audience, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Alcaraz must control his negative emotions! The situation on the pitch is changing all the time. If the opponent performs well and plays at a high level, you should be able to accept it calmly and wait patiently for your opportunity. Players like Marousanne and De Zuch will have a time when they are open, and the more powerful opponents they encounter later, they are more likely to play at a higher level, and they must learn to accept it calmly, patiently look for opportunities, stimulate their competitive state, and have the ability to fight strong opponents and play triumphant songs.