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His first opponent was feistier than expected, but Carlos Alcaraz is off and running at the US Open.
The world No. 3 defeated Australian qualifier Li Tu 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday. He will face Botic van De Zandschulp in the second round on Thursday, after the Dutchman’s dispatch of Denis Shapovalov earlier Tuesday.
Alcaraz appeared to be on track for a standard first-round blowout, but then Tu showed a form the Spaniard wasn’t exactly ready for. Tu pledged he would try to give Alcaraz “three, four, five sets of hell” before the match and found that form in the second set.
Tu stayed on serve against Alcaraz for part of the third set, but the talent disparity was eventually too much to overcome. Tu is the first opening-round opponent to take a set off Alcaraz in a Grand Slam since 2022 Wimbledon. Alcaraz didn’t help his cause with 18 unforced errors in the set.
Tu stayed on serve against Alcaraz for part of the third set, but all it took was Alcaraz finding his feet again to turn a potential upset into a laugher. He won the next nine games to snuff out the threat.
Alcaraz is competing to win his third straight Grand Slam after taking the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year. Another title this year would also be the fifth Slam of the 21-year-old’s career and a return to the top in New York after losing to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals last year.
The draw has Alcaraz facing either Medvedev or Jannik Sinner in the semifinals, barring a major upset, with Novak Djokovic waiting on the other side of the bracket. All three potential opponents represent intriguing matchups: Medvedev for a rematch of last year, Sinner as the new world No. 1 and only other man to win a Slam this year, Djokovic for a rematch of Alcaraz’s loss in the Olympic gold medal match earlier this month.
But first, Alcaraz has to get there, as do the rest. Djokovic predictably cruised in the first round on Monday, while Medvedev and Sinner both dropped sets against unseeded opponents earlier Tuesday.
Sinner in particular entered the tournament under a cloud of controversy after testing positive twice for a banned anabolic steroid earlier this year and avoiding a suspension. That might have been the cause of a slow start against Mackenzie McDonald in a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 win.