Carlos Alcaraz is back in the third round at the US Open after defeating Jaime Faria in four sets.
The Spaniard, who went down an early set, quickly recovered to drop just five games in the next three sets and secure his place in the next round.
Alcaraz Turns Things Around After Early Setback
After a few regulation holds of serve to start the match, it was Alcaraz who first found an opening on return, generating multiple break points. But the World No. 3 would fail to convert them due to some unforced errors. Those mistakes seemed to stick with Alcaraz for a bit, as he then immediately got broken himself, which ended up deciding the first set.
Down a set, Alcaraz faced break points in his very first game of the second set. Under that pressure situation, the Spaniard came through, and that ultimately was basically the match. Faria’s serve itself lost its rhythm, as the Portuguese started committing double faults in bulk, while Alcaraz himself raised his level. This resulted in a bagel second set.
Carrying that momentum into the third set, Alcaraz got up a break early on as Faria continued to struggle while serving. Faria did manage to get a break of his own, but by that point, Alcaraz had gotten his confidence back. The Spaniard broke once more to effectively seal the third set and kept pushing forward even more in the fourth set to complete an at-times tricky yet ultimately comfortable match win.
The Last Word
Entering the tournament, there were many questions surrounding the Spaniard. Just two matches in, Alcaraz has seemed to answer all of them. The defending champion in New York has looked as good as any player in the tournament so far, with his level only expected to rise as the tournament progresses.
The biggest point of focus for Alcaraz would be his serve, as it has left him for stretches during the matches. But if he gets his confidence back on that, in what looks like an increasingly open tournament, the Spaniard would like his chances very much to once again make history in New York.
Main Image Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images