Carlos Alcaraz had to play his best tennis to overcome Lloyd Harris from South Africa in the second round of the 2023 US Open.
The South African knows how it feels to be ranked 31st on the ATP Tour, but he entered the 2023 US Open as world no. 177 due to previous injury struggles. But recently, Harris has been playing close to his best again, and that's why Alcaraz couldn't take anything for granted.
The Spaniard said that he's not thinking about the title defence, but he certainly wants to go all the way once again, and to do that, he needs to win matches like this. His biggest rival, Novak Djokovic, has been cruising through the draw, and the 20-year-old surely wants to follow him.
Alcaraz already set his sight on the world no. 1 spot again, and he backed his words with another solid performance. The two met for the first time on the ATP Tour, but the unfamiliarity hasn't been a problem for the Spaniard.
The top seed jumped off into an early lead, breaking his opponent's serve twice, despite facing two break points already in the second game of the match. But the youngster managed to save both, and after two breaks of serve, he won the opening set 6-3.
The second set followed a very similar script. First, Alcaraz faced two break points, this time already in the opening game, and then, he broke his opponent's serve twice to win the set, this time 6-1.
But the third set wasn't so easy for the world no. 1. Once again, Harris couldn't use two break points early on, but a bit later, the South African used one of his chances, leading 4-2 in the third set of the match.
Yet, Alcaraz recovered the break and saved three more break points, to force the third set into the tie-break. Despite losing a one mini-break lead twice, the 20-year-old was able to add one more and win the match in three sets 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(4).
After another convincing win, Alcaraz will now face first seeded opponent on his title defence. The Spaniard will play against the 26th-seeded Daniel Evans in the third round of the competition.
0 Comments