If Carlos Alcaraz was nervous on Tuesday for his Grand Slam draw debut, he certainly did not show it.
The #NextGenATP Spaniard played aggressive, compound tennis to knock out rival Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Australian Open.
“I’m very happy to win my first Grand Slam today,” Alcaraz said. “I tried to enjoy, to play my game. I think I did it. I enjoyed it. [the match]. I got the experience. I’m excited to play my second round. ‘
Both players made their biggest debut, so nerves were expected. But the 17-year-old Alcaraz was unashamed at the moment and lost just nine points in the first set. Juan Carlos Ferrero’s protégé withstood every storm he encountered on Court 17 en route to a one-hour, 54-minute victory.
After being in hard closure for two weeks, it would have been understandable if the teenager in Australia had started slowly. But last week, Alcaraz upset top-seeded David Goffin at the Great Ocean Road Open, and now he’s through with his big debut in live sets.
Van de Zandschulp was also not an easy draw for Alcaraz, although it was also the Dutchman’s Slam debut. Last week, 25-year-old Reilly beat Opelka and pushed the big hitter Russian Karen Khachanov deep into a third set in a match that lasted two hours and 37 minutes.
But Alcaraz has an answer to every surge his opponent has made. In the early stages, Van de Zandschulp often fired incorrectly and allowed the Spaniard to find a rhythm. But the Dutchman collapsed from a break in the second set, and his baseline power began to push the player behind the baseline for the first time in almost a decade of the game.
What stood out at Alcaraz was that he never showed frustration or panic. After losing 3-2 in the second set for the first – and only time – in the second set, the three-time ATP Challenger Tour champion broke back in the next game.
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The 6’1 “judge also showed a lot of skill. At one point, Van de Zandschulp hit a solid top. Alcaraz, who was so close to the back wall that he was off the screen, somehow guessed the right direction and knocked out a winner.
The 17-year-old man scored two winners more than Van de Zandschulp (26-24) and made 21 unforced errors less (23-44). The Dutchman doubled the decisive breakaway in the third set and Alcaraz was not shocked when he served out the match, shouting: ‘Vamos!’ and smiled for his team after achieving his triumph.
“I played a very good first set. I think he missed a lot of balls. I kept trying to focus,” Alcaraz said. “The second set was very, very tough. He played a very good game in the second set. I tried to be relaxed in the difficult moments.”
Alcaraz was barely in the Top 500 of the FedEx ATP rankings at the beginning of last season. Now on to the world no. 141, he is reaching the top 100. The teenager plays the Swede Mikael Ymer, who upset the 26th seeded Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 three hours and 44 minutes.
Ymer is in the second round of the Australian Open for the second year in a row. The 22-year-old did not make the third round on a major.
Did you know?
Alcaraz is the youngest man to win a Grand Slam match since Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2014 Australian Open.