After almost two full weeks out of motion as he recovered from a proper hamstring harm, Carlos Alcaraz returned to the courtroom with the identical elite stage that has characterised his rise to superstardom over the course of the previous 12 months.
A semi-finalist final season on the BNP Paribas Open, Alcaraz acquired a hero’s welcome on the Indian Wells stadium courtroom on Saturday night time. He didn’t disappoint the expectant crowd, delivering along with his all-action recreation in a 6-3, 6-3 victory in opposition to Thanasi Kokkinakis.
“I feel really comfortable playing here, staying here. I felt the love since I came onto the court” Alcaraz mentioned in his post-match interview. “I have great memories, I made my first semi-finals at a Masters 1000 here, had that match against Rafa… It’s so special to come back here.”
Red sizzling from the beginning, Alcaraz dropped only one level on serve within the opening set and broke in his first return recreation as he raced to a 3-0 lead. Set two was tighter, with Kokkinakis efficient in combating energy with energy for stretches, however Alcaraz’s velocity, defence and consistency was an excessive amount of to beat after one other early break.
“I would say I played my best, apart from everything: the points that I have to defend, the semi-finals that I have to defend,” the 19-year-old mentioned. “I tried not to think about that, just to play my game, to enjoy playing here. Of course I tried to make people enjoy watching tennis here… That’s what I liked from tonight.”
The Spaniard might return to No. 1 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on 20 March by successful the Indian Wells title, which might be his third on the ATP Masters 1000 stage after his triumphs in Madrid and Miami final 12 months. It will take 4 extra wins to perform that feat — a purpose that Alcaraz didn’t draw back from within the buildup to the match.
His subsequent opponent will probably be thirty first seed Tallon Griekspoor, who defeated Guido Pella 7-6(3), 7-6(4) earlier on Saturday. Beyond that, Andy Murray or Jack Draper would await within the fourth spherical.
Source web site: www.atptour.com
