Defending champ Carlos Alcaraz returns from injury, wins in Madrid

 

[April 27, 2024]  No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz began his quest for a three-peat at the Mutua Madrid Open by beating Alexander Shevchenko 6-2, 6-1 in just 68 minutes Friday in his native Spain.

Alcaraz had to withdraw from the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Barcelona with a right arm injury, and on Friday he wore a compression sleeve on the arm but did not appear limited. He hit 19 winners to Shevchenko's two and broke the Kazakh's serve seven times in 11 opportunities.

"I think I did pretty well, honestly," Alcaraz said post-match. "The last month I just practiced slices, volleys and backhands, so I think it worked pretty well today.

"That was something I was thinking about approaching this match, trying to hit the forehand softer let's say and trying to be aggressive with the backhand, trying to crash the net as soon as possible. I think I did a really good match in that part."

Alcaraz advanced to the Round of 32 to face Brazil's Thiago Seyboth Wild, who upset No. 28 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-4, 6-4.

No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia ended his recent struggles, at least for now, by sweeping past Argentine qualifier Facundo Bagnis 6-1, 6-4. Rublev had lost four straight matches entering Friday.

"It feels really great after a while to start with a win and I'm happy with my performance," said Rublev, who had 24 winners and 10 unforced errors compared to Bagnis' 13 and 14.

"I think I played a good match, for the first round especially being in completely different conditions compared to other tournaments, and I played a good level."

No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany beat Croatia's Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2, while No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland took down Great Britain's Jack Draper 6-1, 7-5.

No. 11 Holger Rune of Denmark needed three sets to overcome Argentine foe Mariano Navone 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Rune stood two points from defeat when he was down 5-7, 5-6, 15/30 before capitalizing on his opponent's consecutive double faults.

Also advancing in straight sets were No. 12 Taylor Fritz, No. 13 Ugo Humbert of France, No. 21 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina and No. 23 Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.

No. 15 seed Tommy Paul survived a scare from Slovak qualifier Lukas Klein and won 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4, while No. 18 Sebastian Baez of Argentina outlasted Frenchman Luca Van Assche 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov surprised No. 26 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, 7-6 (3), 6-3, while Germany's Daniel Altmaier beat No. 31 Arthur Fils of France 6-2, 6-3. Dutch 24th seed Tallon Griekspoor and Spanish 27th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also won their matches.

--Field Level Media

[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.