(Tennis news) Having been forced to miss the Australian Open through injury, Carlos Alcaraz made his long awaited comeback in the Argentina Open with a victory over Serbian Laslo Djere 6-2 4-6 6-2. The 19 year old had not played since November, forcing him to relinquish his top spot to Novak Djokovic, who won the first Grand Slam of the season. Alcaraz dominated the match with heavy baseline blows and drop shots to secure the win and looks to have recovered from the abdominal injury at the Paris Masters. The Spaniard will face another Serbian in Dusan Lajovic who suffered a straight sets defeat when the pair met previously in last season’s Australian Open.

“It’s a great feeling to win again,” Alcaraz said. “It’s been a long time for me, no competition and no matches, just recovery. And finally I got my first win of 2023.” In other results, Marcos Giron defeated Matija Pecotic 6-3 6-3 in the quarter-finals at the Delray Beach Open. The Croatian made his ATP Tour main draw debut at this ATP 250 event and moved to the Round of 16 after shocking world No 8 Jack Sock in three sets on Tuesday. British number 1 Cameron Norrie defeated wildcard Facundo Diaz Acosta 4-6 7-5 7-6 (8-6) in Buenos Aires. The second seed will now face another Argentine in Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the quarter-finals.

In the women’s category, world No 1 Iga Swiatek defeated Danielle Collins 6-0 6-1 at the Qatar Open. The Polish tennis player lost just four points in the first set which she completed in 21 minutes. Collins, who lost nine consecutive games, finally registered on the scoreboard at 3-1 in the second set, but Swiatek inevitably succeeded. She will now take on Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals after the Swiss tennis player came from behind to beat Victoria Azarenka 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4. Second seed Jessica Pegula overcame Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 2-6 7-5 and fourth seed Coco Gauff defeated Petra Kvitova 6-3 7-6 (8-6).

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