Home » ATP Barcelona: Carlos Alcaraz had an explosive opening

The second-ranked player in the world, Carlos Alcaraz, is back in action at the Barcelona Open after missing the Monte Carlo Masters due to an injury. At the local tournament, the defending champion got off to a strong start by defeating Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-1 in 63 minutes to move to the third round.

Although the Spaniard served at 49%, nobody noticed. Carlos lost serve once after giving the Portuguese two chances, dropping 12 points after the opening shot. Alcaraz converted 53% of the return points into five breaks from seven possibilities while Borges only won five points after the second serve.

Carlos scored 13 service winners, made 14 unforced errors, and only allowed his opponent to score two field goals directly while firing 11 winners! In the first game of the match, Alcaraz scored on a forehand, and in the second game, a powerful forehand winner evened the score at 1-1.

At the Barcelona Open, Carlos Alcaraz got off to a strong championship defense start.

With a deep return in the third game, the home favorite earned three break chances and took the first following Nuno’s double fault. At 2-1, Carlos forced the opponent’s error to confirm the break. In game five, Carlos painted a forehand down the line winner to deliver his second break and establish a 4-1 lead.

With a flawless drop shot winner in game six, world no. 2 kept the lead and served for the match to start at 5-2. In the ninth game, Carlos missed a backhand and had a break opportunity. Borges capitalized on the child’s error, retraced the split, and extended the set.

After overcoming that brief setback, Alcaraz forced Borges’ error in game nine in order to gain set points. With his third break, Carlos completed the second to win the set 6-3 and gain momentum. The second set began with Alcaraz holding at 15, and a few minutes later, a deep backhand return gave him a break.

With a hold at love, the Spaniard quickly built a 3-0 advantage and moved closer to the finish line. In game five, Carlos had a break chance but saved it with a forced error before scoring the game’s winning forehand down the line to take a 4-1 lead.

In the sixth game, Alcaraz successfully broke serve once more to take a 5-1 lead and put the match away. The third-round matchup against Roberto Bautista Agut was set as the world number two held at love with an unreturned serve to secure the victory.