Carlos Alcaraz has another difficult title defence ahead of him but he started very well at the 2023 Barcelona Open.
Last year, the young Spaniard lifted the trophy at this prestigious ATP 500 tournament and he will try to benefit from the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal once more, to defend his title. Previously, Alcaraz withdrew from the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters but he was back to his best in Barcelona.
In the first round, the 19-year-old took on Nuno Borges from Portugal. The world no. 79 dealt with Ilya Ivashka in the first round, but Alcaraz proved to be too good for Borges in their first H2H meeting on the ATP Tour.
Alcaraz came out firing in the first set. After one hold of serve from the Portuguese player, the world no. 2 was lethal on the return, converting both break points that he had and securing 5-1 lead in the opening set.
But Borges didn't want to go down without a fight at the Pista Rafa Nadal. He broke back in the eighth game, but couldn't keep his advantage as Alcaraz added one more break to secure the first set, winning it 6-3.
The Spaniard managed to keep his very high level also throughout the second set. He broke Borges twice again and built a 5-1 lead once more. But this time, Alcaraz kept it and won the match 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the third round at the 2023 Barcelona Open.
In the next round, which will be surely played at the court named after the 22-time Grand Slam champion, he will take on one of the fellow compatriots Roberto Bautista Agut or Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
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