Alcaraz wins first match in two months

Australia's Carlos Alcaraz beat Richard Gasquet 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of the Australian Open on January 16.

The last time Alcaraz played an official match was in the semi-finals of the 2023 ATP Finals, when he lost to Novak Djokovic on November 18. Since then, the Spaniard has only played one practice match against Alex De Minaur, before entering the Grand Slam at the beginning of the year. Therefore, the world number two had a difficult start against veteran Richard Gasquet and almost lost the first set.

Alcaraz celebrates his victory over Gasquet at Rod Laver Stadium, Melbourne, Australia on January 16. Photo: ATP — Alcaraz celebrates his victory over Gasquet at Rod Laver Stadium, Melbourne, Australia on January 16. Photo: *ATP*

15 of Alcaraz's 26 unforced errors came in the first set, when he was not "warmed up". The 20-year-old wasted all nine break-points, including opportunities that came in the return game when he was leading 40-0. Gasquet, with his trademark backhand, put a lot of pressure on his junior and took the set to a tie-break. There, the Frenchman led 4-3 and held serve, but handled himself carelessly at the net, allowing Alcaraz to counterattack to level the score at 4-4. Gasquet gradually lost ground towards the end of the set and lost 5-7.

At 37, fitness is a problem for Gasquet. When the excitement was gone after losing the first set, the world No. 131 player lost more and more steam and quickly lost the next two sets, with scores of 1-6 and 2-6 respectively.

"I need to get used to the competition again," Alcaraz said after the match. "It's not easy to start a Grand Slam when you're out for two months. The first set was difficult, but I played better and better in the following sets."

Last year, Alcaraz missed the Australian Open due to injury. After the match against Gasquet, the Spaniard said he had another motivation besides winning, which was to give the audience beautiful and unbelievable shots. In a dominant match, he admitted that sometimes he did not care about the score.

Alcaraz's return impressed Nick Kyrgios, the home player who missed the tournament due to injury and is now commentating for Eurosport . Kyrgios said he would like to compete with Alcaraz after recovering from injury, and also predicted that the world number two will have a difficult time in the second round, when he will face Lorenzo Sonego.

Vy Anh

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