New York (AFP) – Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame an early wobble to book his place in the third round of the US Open on Wednesday, recovering from a set down to defeat Portugal’s Jaime Faria in four sets. Alcaraz, who is playing in New York after returning from a four-month layoff due to a wrist injury, defeated his 72nd-ranked opponent 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in 2hr 40 min at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Alcaraz, who will face China’s Wu Yibing in the third round, blamed his first set problems on a failure to convert a golden break point opportunity that would have given him a 4-2 lead. Instead, Faria leveled at 3-3 and then broke Alcaraz in the next game to go 4-3 up.
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“Tough match for me. Obviously the first set, I was feeling great, I had break point, I missed it,” Alcaraz said. “After that I was in a rush. I didn’t take time, I wasn’t patient and that obviously cost me the break. Against someone like Jaime, he’s serving 140, 141 (mph), it’s very difficult. I tried to stay calm … think good things are going to happen again.”
Faria, meanwhile, was left ruing his inability to build on an impressive opening set. The 23-year-old’s serve fell apart in the second while Alcaraz upped the tempo and began to find a telling extra zip in his groundstrokes. Although Alcaraz had to save two break points in the opening game before holding, it was all one-way traffic thereafter.
Faria was broken three times as Alcaraz went through the gears to take control of the contest. The Spaniard’s momentum extended into the third set, with Faria broken again to go 2-0 down. Faria hit back with a break of Alcaraz’s serve to make it 2-1, but was soon back in trouble after being broken in the next game to trail 3-1. The set went with serve thereafter as Alcaraz took a 2-1 lead.
Alcaraz went a double break up in the fourth to move into a 5-1 lead and served out to seal victory.
© 2024 AFP
