Alcaraz Starts at Half Throttle

Carlos Alcaraz's participation in the US Open began at half throttle, with a set lost against Li Tu, ranked 186th in the world, who leveraged his momentum from the qualifying rounds to challenge the Spaniard for two hours and 44 minutes (6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and 6-1).

The Spaniard, the third seed after Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, arrived in New York no longer concerned about the ankle sprain he suffered during training, which had forced him to cut the session short. He confirmed it was just a scare and was able to compete without impediments—aside from a precautionary bandage on his right adductor that has become routine—against an inexperienced Tu. At 28 years old, Tu has only won one ATP-level match, on the grass courts of Newport last year.

With a résumé that includes just nine matches at the highest level, Tu passed the qualifying rounds with three solid victories, including one against Spaniard Alejandro Moro. He presented himself at Arthur Ashe Stadium to unsettle Alcaraz. Not in the first set, where the Murcian committed only two unforced errors and did not allow any break points on his serve, but in the second set where his tally of errors rose to 18—more than in the other three sets combined.

"He surprised me there. The difference was that in the first set I had two unforced errors and then 18. Too many mistakes that shouldn't have happened. I need to improve on staying focused," admitted Alcaraz, who has never lost in the first round in his fifteen Grand Slam appearances.

With this in mind, Alcaraz could not break Tu until 3-3 in the third set when he capitalized on his third break point of the set and started a streak of nine consecutive games that secured him the match.

The victory allows Alcaraz to join Bjorn Borg as the second player in history to reach sixty Grand Slam victories in the fewest matches (70), trailing only John McEnroe, who needed 69.

"It's a great statistic," responded Alcaraz at a press conference. "I didn't know; I hadn't seen it. We work day by day for this—to try to be better, win matches, and give ourselves the chance to reach the final rounds of every tournament. It's a shame McEnroe beat me by one match. It's an honor for me to share these statistics with great legends of the sport."

His next opponent will be Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp, who surprisingly defeated Denis Shapovalov (6-4, 7-5, and 6-4), and whom Alcaraz has beaten twice in his career: at the Australian Open 2021 and Basel 2022. Alcaraz has never lost more than four games in a single set against the Dutchman.

On Tuesday's session, Jaume Munar fell to Gabriel Diallo (6-4, 3-6, 6-3, and 7-5) and Cristina Bucsa lost to Sara Errani (3-6, 6-0, and 6-4), while Jessica Bouzas eliminated Petra Martic (6-3 and 6-0) and Sara Sorribes defeated Alexa Noel (6-1 and 6-3).