MADRID, 28 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz got off to a good start on Monday in his US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, and took victory over Australian Li Tu, although he dropped a set along the way (6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1).
The Murcia native, champion in New York two years ago, made his debut in New York by putting in an excellent match despite his lack of prior preparation, with only one match on hard court and also ending with a defeat against the Frenchman Gael Monfils in which he neither showed his best tennis nor his best image.
The third seed seemed to be heading for an easy win against an opponent with a bit more pace from the qualifying round, but then he lost his way in the second set and the match was at times suspenseful until he broke it again in a definitive and overwhelming manner.
In this way, Alcaraz signed his 60th victory in a ‘major’ in just 70 matches, becoming the second fastest to reach that figure only surpassed by the American John McEnroe (69), and after finishing with 50 winning shots and 30 unforced errors, more than half in the second set.
The match started in the best possible way for the Spaniard at the Arthur Ashe. The Olympic runner-up came out on the court confident and overwhelming, quite the opposite to Tu, who seemed to feel the pressure and found himself 4-0 down after conceding two breaks. The player from El Palmar did not relax and closed the first set without problems despite the improvement of his rival, who would settle down little by little.
In the second set, things changed and the Australian put up more of a fight, although he continued to do little damage to the serve. Alcaraz held firm and threatened to break in the fifth game, wasting three break points, but he did not waste a 15-40 in the seventh to break. It seemed that the fate of the set was sealed when the winner of four Grand Slams pulled out of the match.
Tu did not waste it and was able to not only recover the lost serve with his first break, but also broke again for the second time to the astonishment of the crowd on his fifth point of the set to equal the match. Alcaraz did not stop making unforced errors, up to 18 in this second set, and found himself in a balanced match in which he would need patience.
The Oceanian took advantage of his moment to stay in the match until the middle of the third set, but then the Murcian accelerated definitively. After failing to take advantage of two break points, he did so with a third to break at 3-3 and end Tu’s resistance. The Spanish tennis player became overwhelming, chaining eight consecutive games and heading to the second round of the tournament where he will have a good test against the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
For his part, the other Spanish tennis player in the men’s draw who participated in this second day of the US Open, the Balearic Jaume Munar, said goodbye at the first opportunity after losing to the Canadian Gabriel Diallo in four sets by 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
In addition, Italian Jannik Sinner, in his first match since it was announced that he was acquitted after testing positive twice last March for clostebol, started with a victory and a comeback against American Mackenzie McDonald (2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2).