Google News
Carlos Alcaraz won the first match at the ATP 500 in Beijing, and after his success he launched a massive challenge to Novak Djokovic. The young Spanish tennis player beat Yannick Hanfmann on his debut at the China Open, with the boy having to fight to adapt to the playing conditions and find the right way to close the match.
In the press conference, Carlitos explained: "I felt very good on the pitch. Even though it was a first round match, I think I played well. I'm happy with my performance. I think I responded quite well.
A shot that I focus on in every match, in every training session.
It was bad to see my serve performance in the first set, because things were going well in training. First position in the ranking? I think Novak will defend some points soon.
In the Race he is ahead by 700 or 800 points. By playing these two tournaments, considering that he will not participate, I will have the opportunity to get closer to number one.
This is the meaning of these two tournaments: to be able to do well in Beijing and Shanghai to be able to regain the top soon."
The match
Twice leading by a break in the opening set, Alcaraz lost control of his forehand several times and allowed his rival to get back on track despite the difficulties on serve.
The Spanish champion activated autopilot in the most important moment of the dispute and at the score of 4-4 he left Hanfmann still with a fantastic forehand.
After closing the first half of the game, Alcaraz no longer hesitated and immediately surprised the German in response.
As the minutes passed, he managed to reduce the number of gratuitous errors and find the pitch consistently.
Alcaraz's goal is to get the most in China to get closer to the first position in the ranking, currently occupied by Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian has decided to take a short break before returning to the field and will not even participate in the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai.