Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his bid to defend his Miami Open title with a comfortable win over Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis in the Hard Rock Stadium.
The teenage sensation wasted no time in coasting through to the last-32, taking it 6-0, 6-2, as he looks to add the Miami Masters 1000 to the Indian Wells title he won last week to complete his very own sunshine double.
It was a remarkable start by the World No.1 who won the first 12 points of the match as he raced to a 3-0 lead. Then, much to the delight of those watching inside the Hard Rock, Bagnis finally got on the points board when an Alcaraz crosscourt forehand was snuffed out by a calm volley at the net by the Argentinian.
But that was about as good as it got for the beleaguered Bagnis –ranked at World No.100 – as Alcaraz broke serve again to lead 5-0. It was a mismatch in quality and Alcaraz continued to pummel Bagnis as he sailed to the first set 6-0 in just 23 minutes, the Spaniard winning 27 of the 34 first-set points played.
The writing was on the wall as Alcaraz broke again in the first game of the second set but, credit to Bagnis, he did have a look at a break point in the next game, only for Alcaraz to force him wide. Those inside may have come for Alcaraz but the biggest cheer of the day came when Bagnis finally made his mark on the game scoreboard when he broke the Alcaraz serve to love, the player with a wry smile on his face as he took his seat at the changeover.
But the outcome of the match was already determined and normal service was resumed when Alcaraz broke and consolidated to lead 4-2. With the clock just over the hour mark, the 19-year-old wrapped up the match with a deep forehand winner to continue his hot streak of form.
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