Carlos Alcaraz muscled his way past Australian qualifier Li Tu on Tuesday to get his US Open campaign underway.
Alcaraz, who suffered successive defeats earlier this month for the first time since May, was in dire need of a winning start at Flushing Meadows, but his first-round clash wasn’t all plain sailing.
The Spaniard suffered a slight blip in an out-of-sorts second set in which he failed to capitalize on a break advantage, but he managed to bounce back and bully his way through the grand slam debutant, 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-1.
At 28, Tu has made a relatively late breakthrough to the major stage, but he will go home content to have taken a set off one of the best players in the world.
However, it wasn’t just the memory of the scoreline that he will savour from this clash.
Li Tu praises Carlos Alcaraz as a ‘beast’ before their US Open match
Carlos Alcaraz is arriving at this year’s US Open with a point to prove.
He suffered a heartbreaking loss in the final of the Olympics to Novak Djokovic and followed it up with his ‘worst ever performance’ at the Cincinnati Masters.
The 21-year-old is eager to shake off this setback and emulate the form that led him to glory at Flushing Meadows in 2022 and, according to Tu, it felt as if the four-time major champion entered the court with more than just a point to prove.
“I’m not going to lie,” Tu told ESPN. “He [Alcaraz] came out, he was in his jacket and I was like ‘OK’. Then we went to the coin toss, and he took his jacket off and I was like ‘Dude, this guy is a specimen!’.
“From the coin toss, I was just like ‘This guy is a beast’, I couldn’t stop looking at his shoulder definition and the veins, and the forehand says it. He’s got some serious weaponry, so hats off to him.”
Can Alcaraz go deep at the US Open?
The world number three will relish the opportunity to face his intergenerational rival Djokovic in an encounter that is only possible if they both reach the final.
Alcaraz will be confident in his chances to get there, regardless of who awaits, but he might not find joy in seeing rising star Jack Draper in a potential third-round clash.
The Brit produced an awe-inspiring performance to get the better of the reigning champion at Queen’s this summer and will fancy his chances to cause another stir.
Tensions will naturally rise further throughout the second week when Washington champion Sebastian Korda could await in the fourth round, before an eagerly-anticipated semi-final match with world number one Jannik Sinner.
The fierce Spaniard is also looking to become just the third man in the Open Era to win the final three majors in the same year – an astonishing achievement that is sure to add fuel to the fire.
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