(Tennis news) Dominik Koepfer’s retirement mid-match allowed Alcaraz to move on to the second round. In order to advance to the third round, he then had to defeat Lloyd Harris. The Spanish player broke his opponent’s serve twice to win the opening set while in full flight from the get-go.
In the second set, which Alcaraz won with just one game lost, he displayed even greater dominance. With a break of serve to go 4-2 up, Harris made the third set quite competitive.
Alcaraz promptly broke off serve, though, to resume play. The reigning champion prevailed in the tie-break to win the match 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(4) after the two players managed to drag the set into extra time.
To advance to the second round, where Botic van de Zandschulp awaited him, Evans, in contrast, defeated Daniel Elahi Galan in straight sets. The British player, who had rather easily lost the first set, retaliated by serving up a breadstick in order to win the second.
To further solidify his hold on the match, Evans broke van de Zandschulp’s serve twice in the third set. He was up 4-1 in the fourth set after an early serve break. The British player conceded a match point on his adversary’s serve at 5-2, but he won the next game to seal the victory with scores of 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
Head-to-Head
In the head-to-head matchup, Alcaraz has a 2-0 advantage over Evans. At the Barcelona Open in 2023, he defeated them in straight sets.
Predictions
Alcaraz was on his way to a straightforward victory when Harris mounted a determined effort, forcing Alcaraz to fight back and ultimately win. His nine-match winning streak in New York has now been sustained. In addition to striking 33 winners overall and winning 69% of his first-serve points, the Spaniard also made four less unforced errors.
Evans came back to defeat van de Zandschulp after being down a set. After a sluggish start, the British player rebounded pretty well and finished with 29 victories. Since he has yet to even defeat Alcaraz in a set, he will need to step up his game even more in the future.
Evans is a difficult opponent to play because of the variety of strategies he uses in his defensive style of tennis. But the World No. 1 has already proven that he can easily handle the British player’s disruptive style, and he’s certain to do it once more to keep up his title defence.
Carlos Alcaraz to win in straight sets.
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