Photo Source: TTV
Laslo Djere twice had a break advantage on Carlos Alcaraz in the opening set of their third-round clash at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Sunday evening.
But the 29-year-old Serbian struggled with an arm issue and ultimately gave way, squandering the breaks and dropping the first-set in a lopsided tiebreak.
Alcaraz, ever the opportunist, pulled away from there, racing through the first ?? games of the second set to earn a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory and a spot in the round of 16, where Karen Khachanov waits.
“It was a really tough beginning, honestly,” Alcaraz said. “I had to find the good rhythm and the good path in the match. He played really solid in the first set and I didn’t find the way. I just had to stay there, mentally strong and waiting for my chances.”
It was a shame for Djere, who competed well with the third-seeded Spaniard in the opening set, but he’ll have to take his medicine and hope his condition improves before Roland-Garros.
For Alcaraz it was another step in the right direction on the clay. The 22-year-old has now won 23 of 25 matches on the surface, and he has won 26 matches this season, which moves him to the top of ATP win list, one ahead of Francisco Cerundolo and Alex de Minaur.
Making just his second appearance at Rome, Alcaraz continues to wear the black compression sleeve on his right leg. Alcaraz injured the leg in the Barcelona final, and skipped Madrid as a result, but told reporters he felt at 100 percent when he arrived in Rome.
He was seen before the match having the sleeve pressurized around his leg by his team, but he showed no signs of degraded movement on Sunday evening. He moved beautifully, in fact, and produced several sliding winners to go with his typical array of sublime power and touch. Djere didn’t quit, and pushed back after dropping the first four games of the second set as he put his injury worries behind him and focused on his chances of making a comeback. But it was not to be, as Alcaraz closed out the contest in one hour and 43 minutes, improving to 10-1 on the clay this season.
Alcaraz is into the round of 16 in Rome for the first time, and he owns a 4-0 lifetime edge over Khachanov, whom he has defeated in all nine sets they have contested.