Carlos Alcaraz was not at his vintage best against the qualifier Li Tu but eventually dominated the fourth set after some struggles earlier in the match.
Alcaraz hopes to win a second US Open title after his triumph at Flushing Meadows in 2022. If he does, it would be his third consecutive Grand Slam title.
Although 2024 has been a superb year for Alcaraz, he did suffer the disappointment of losing the gold medal match at the Olympics to Novak Djokovic. The Serbian prevailed 7-6, 7-6.
Alcaraz recently lamented his missed chances in that match. That indicated the contest was still fresh in his mind, which is understandable after a brutal defeat that saw him cry in an interview after the match.
The Spaniard was also asked about Jannik Sinner's doping scandal before the US Open began. He gave a somewhat diplomatic answer that did not openly criticize the Italian, but he also felt there were facts of the case that were not being publicly stated.
Alcaraz began his US Open campaign in the first match of the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Tu was not expected to cause him any issues, and it seemed like the contest would not last long in the opening couple of games.
The four-time Grand Slam champion raced to a 4-0 lead against his visibly nervous opponent. The Australian could not cope with the intensity of the hitting by the former world No. 1.
Lu steadied himself at the end of the set with a couple of service holds. Alcaraz won the set 6-2, but there were at least signs that the match could be more competitive than the early games suggested.
After only making two unforced errors in the first set, Alcaraz's level rapidly dropped in the second set. In particular, he was leaking errors off his forehand and hitting far too many double faults.
Despite this, the 21-year-old was still up a break at 4-3. However, he unexpectedly imploded from that point. Alcaraz lost the final three games of the second set, being broken twice. Lu took his fifth set point to win the set 6-4.
Alcaraz also struggled in the first half of the third set. Lu got to 3-3, and there was a nervy atmosphere at that stage at Arthur Ashe Stadium among the fans who wanted to see the Spaniard in the next round.
However, Alcaraz's level improved again once he broke to go 4-3 up. He quickly wrapped up the third set 6-3 and never looked back after that dominating proceedings until the end of the match.
Lu also began to cramp in the fourth set, making it impossible for him to compete with Alcaraz. To his credit, he kept fighting after losing the first five games of the fourth set, holding to avoid losing it 0-6.
It only delayed the inevitable, though. Alcaraz easily held serve to secure a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. victory. It was not his best performance, but he will likely improve after getting this match under his belt.