Carlos Alcaraz won the first match of his career at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell with a 6-1 2-6 6-2 win over South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon on a windy and cold afternoon in the Spanish city. The 18-year-old Spanish star won his first ATP Tour match in native Spain for nearly one year.
Alcaraz bounced back from his second round defeat against Sebastian Korda at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The 2022 Miami Open champion has improved his seasonal record to 19 wins to just 3 defeats.
Alcaraz cruised through to a 5-0 lead with a double break in the second and fourth games and came within two points of a bagel win in the sixth game of first set, but Kwon held serve to win his first game.
Alcaraz built up a 6-1 2-0 lead, but Kwon bounced back by winning six consecutive games with three breaks of serve to seal the second set 6-2 forcing the match to the decider.
Alcaraz broke twice in the first and fifth games to seal the third set 6-1 setting up a second round match against his compatriot Jaume Munar.
“I started playing very well. The match was in my favour. It was tough to keep up in the score in the second set. I think he started to play really well as well. I started very well at the third. It was a close match, even if the score was a little bit easy”, said Alcaraz.
Felix Auger Aliassime battled past Carlos Taberner 6-1 3-4 6-4 to take a hard-fought win in the second round.
Auger Aliassime improved his win-loss record to a career-best of 15-4 after winning his first ATP title in Rotterdam. The young Canadian player also reached the final in Marseille losing to Andrey Rublev. Since then he has won only one match in four tournaments.
Auger Aliassime cruised through to a 6-1 win in the first set with two breaks in the second and seventh games after dropping just two of 19 points on his first serve.
Both player traded breaks in the third and fourth games in the second set. Taberner earned a second break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead before saving three break points to hold serve and seal the second set 6-3.
Auger Aliassime broke serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead, but he failed to serve out the match at 5-3, as Taberner broke straight back in the ninth game. Auger Aliassime earned his fifth break in the 10th game to close out the third set 6-4.
“Taberner is good clay-court player. He had a good win yesterday. I am sure he was feeling confident. On my part, I had a great start to the match. It was unfortunate that I lost my rhythm a little bit in the second set, lost my serve too many times, but I credit him for defending well, showing a great level for a clay-court player, so it was not easy to get over the line today, serving for the match today, by eventually to be through, it’s a thrill”, said Auger Aliassime.
Auger Aliassime set up a third round match against Frances Tiafoe, who beat Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien 7-6 (7-3) 6-1.
Dellien broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead in the first set, but Tiafoe broke straight back to win the tie-break 7-3. Tiafoe cruised through to a 6-1 win in the second set with two breaks in the fourth and sixth games.
Pablo Carreno Busta overcame Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3 6-3. Carballes Baena earned a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead, but Carreno Busta bounced back by winning five consecutive games with three breaks of serve. The second set started with two breaks of serve in the first four games. Careno Busta won the final three games from 3-3 with a break in the eighth game to close out the second set 6-3.
