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If Carlos Alcaraz was nervous for his Grand Slam main draw debut on Tuesday, he certainly didn’t show it.
Spaniard #NextGenATP played aggressive and composed tennis to send his qualified colleague Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Australian Open.
“I am very happy to win today in my first Grand Slam,” said Alcaraz. “I tried to enjoy, to play my game. I think I did. I appreciated [the match]. I have experience. I am delighted to play my second round. “
Both players were making their major debuts, so nerves were to be expected. But Alcaraz, 17, was not impressed by the moment, dropping just nine points in the first set. Juan Carlos Ferrero’s protégé weathered all the storms he faced on court 17 en route to an hour and 54 minute victory.
After being stranded for two weeks, it would have been understandable if the teenager had started slowly in Australia. But last week Alcaraz upset seed David Goffin in the Great Ocean Road Open, and now he’s in his major straight sets debut.
Carlos Alcaraz “/>
Van de Zandschulp has not been an easy draw for Alcaraz either, although it is also the Dutchman’s Slam debut. Last week, the 25-year-old beat Reilly Opelka and pushed Russia’s Karen Khachanov into a third set in a game that lasted two hours and 37 minutes.
But Alcaraz had an answer to every push from his opponent. At the start, Van de Zandschulp often missed and allowed the Spaniard to find a rhythm. But the Dutchman recovered from a breakdown in the second set and his base power began to push the player nearly a decade behind his junior behind the baseline for the first time in the game.
What stood out from Alcaraz was that he never showed frustration or panic. After losing the serve for the first – and only – time of the match at 3-2 in the second set, the three-time ATP champion Challenger Tour took a break in the next match.
You might also like: Ferrero on the Rise of Alcaraz: “I’ve had a good career, but it can be even better.”
The 6’1 ”right-hander also showed a lot of skill. On one point, Van de Zandschulp hit a solid overhead. Alcaraz, who was so close to the back wall that he was offscreen, guessed in the right direction and smashed a backhand winner down the line.
The 17-year-old hit two more winners than Van de Zandschulp (26-24) and committed 21 fewer unforced errors (23-44). The Dutchman double faulted during the decisive break in the third set and Alcaraz didn’t budge as he served the game shouting “Vamos!” and smiling at his team after winning their triumph.
“I played a really good first set. I think he missed a lot of balls. I tried to be focused all the time,” said Alcaraz. “The second set was very, very difficult. He played a very good game in the second set. I tried to be relaxed in the difficult times.”
Alcaraz was barely in the Top 500 of the FedEx ATP rankings at the start of last season. Now at No. 141 in the world, he is heading for the Top 100. The teenager will then play the Swede Mikael Ymer, who knocked down the 26th seed Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 after three hours and 44 minutes.
Ymer is in the second round of the Australian Open for the second year in a row. The 22-year-old did not make the third round in a major.
Did you know?
Alcaraz is the youngest man to win a Grand Slam match since Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2014 Australian Open.
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