Carlos Alcaraz survived a competitive battle with Ben Shelton Wednesday night in Toronto in his first outing since winning Wimbledon, fending off his fellow #NextGenATP star to reach the third round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.
With Shelton committed to an aggressive gameplan and the top-seeded Spaniard making more errors than normal, little separated the players for the majority of the match, save for one break of serve in the fourth game.
That was the last break point Alcaraz would earn, but he ultimately claimed a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory to extend his winning streak to 13 matches, dating back to his title run at Queen’s.
[atp app]
“I tried to play my level but it wasn’t easy,” Alcaraz said. “He was more aggressive than me from the beginning to the last ball. I tried to be solid and to get my rhythm and I’m really happy to be through to have an opportunity in the next round.
“This match will help me to be more focussed in the next round, to put my game first in the beginning of the match.”
Alcaraz, who counts ATP Masters 1000 titles in Miami and Madrid among his six titles this season, improved to 18-2 at the Masters 1000 level this season. He is looking for his fifth title at this level.
Alcaraz next faces big-serving Pole Hubert Hurkacz, who rallied from a set down to defeat Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, firing 25 aces in the process.
Infosys ATP Stats reflected the close nature of the contest, with both players hitting 17 winners and Shelton making just two more unforced errors (26). Alcaraz went 3/3 saving break points while Shelton was 2/3.
After confidently navigating his service games in the second set, Shelton came unstuck in the tie-break when he conceded consecutive mini-breaks to go down 1/4, narrowly missing wide what would have been a winning forehand and then throwing in a double fault.
American qualifier Marcos Giron claimed the biggest win of his career when he stunned World No. 6 Holger Rune 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the second match of the night session.
The 2014 NCAA singles champion for UCLA made a mess of an attempt to serve out the match at 5-2 in the third but immediately broke back to clinch the win when Rune threw in his 50th unforced error of the match: a forehand drop shot that failed to clear the net.
World No. 70 Giron, 30, captured just his second win in 17 meetings with Top 10 players. He advances to meet fellow American Tommy Paul, who took out Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(2), 6-7(2), 6-3.
“I’ve played with a lot of guys who are Top 10 in the world so I knew that I can do it,” Giron said. “I knew that the level is there. But the margins are so small and you never know when that break is going to happen… So you always have to be there.
“It really sucked losing the second set having game point serving at 40/15, but that happens. You have to move forward and you can’t hold on to that for too long.”
[newsletter form]