Carlos Alcaraz earned his 50th match win of the year in personal-best time after defeating Jordan Thompson 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in his opening match at the Western & Southern Open Wednesday night.
But the time’s rapid march to the half-century mark was in stark contrast to a generally flat performance in the first two sets of a rain-interrupted match against World No. 55 net-rushing Australian, who took the second set afterwards. with game points for a 5-2 lead in the first.
It took Alcaraz, who committed 26 unforced errors in the first set, until the start of the third set just before 12:30 p.m. to find her spark after her initial sluggish performance, which also held off the fans in a bad mood for many parts of the match.
“It wasn’t an easy match but I found my best level in the end,” said Alcaraz. “We waited all day to play the match and then when you step on the court you have to start raining, so it’s not easy.
“But you have to find a way to win these games in this type of situation.”
Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, who missed last week’s sub-par quarter-final run in Toronto in his first outing since winning Wimbledon, will be on deck in Ohio this week and will look for ways to get Alcaraz back to his best. best as he seeks to defend his hold on the World No. 1 against a challenging Novak Djokovic this week.
The game, which started Tuesday night and ended at 1 a.m. Wednesday, went over three hours and two minutes, due in part to the game clock continuing to run during a 20-minute rain delay on the 1 -1 in the first set when the players stayed on the court. Alcaraz failed to convert four break points on either side of the interruption and needed a ninth break point in the eighth game of the first set to break through for the first time.
He finished the match 5/17 in break chances after breaking Thompson in the last game and by playing better tennis than in the first two sets. The Australian challenged Alcaraz throughout the match using 52 net approaches, of which he won 30.
The Cincinnati top seed reached the 50-wins milestone in its 12th tournament of the year. Last season his 50th match win came in the semi-finals of the US Open, his 14th tournament of the season.
The 20-year-old Spaniard, who improved to 50-5 on the year, is looking for his seventh title in 2023 to add to the crowns won in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Queen’s and Wimbledon.
You May Also Like: Inside Alcaraz vs. Djokovic Battle For World No. 1 In Cincinnati
Alcaraz must reach this week’s final at the Lindner Family Tennis Center to ensure he continues his run atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for week 34 on Monday. Anything less than a run into the final leaves open several scenarios where Djokovic could reclaim the top spot.
On the roster of 28 players most weeks spent at No. 1, Alcaraz is now in 16th position. He needed another 11 weeks to overtake Gustavo Kuerten in 13th position.
Alcaraz is looking forward to a third-round showdown with the winner of Frenchman Ugo Humbert and American Tommy Paul, who upset the reigning US Open champion last week in Toronto.