Carlos Alcaraz avoided another upset to an American as he took control of the match against Mackenzie McDonald early to secure the win.
Alcaraz recently discussed how challenging he found it to deal with heightened expectations following his rapid rise earlier this year. Tennis superstardom is something he craved for many years but it left him unable to handle the accompanying emotions causing a crisis in his tennis. It was hard to admit for Alcaraz but he did publicly and he's still repeating similar sentiments, even after wins.
"I'm really happy with the performance today. One of the goals in this tournament is to grow with the pressure... to enjoy as I did at the beginning of the year and last year." said Alcaraz and continued: "To enjoy playing great tennis, to try to be relaxed. I think in this round I did it and I'm really happy with it."
The performance itself was very composed. He didn't face too many issues despite admitting after the match that it's tricky to play here due to the fast courts:
"I think this court is fast, the ball slides a lot and it's difficult to play with that," he said adding: "I tried to be really focussed with his shots and to be aggressive, that's all."
He'll face those issues even more against his next opponent Marin Cilic whose serves will be a challenge for him.
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