The Murcian Carlos Alcaraz needed to give the best of himself in his debut at the US Open to overcome the tough Argentine Sebastián Báez (7-5, 7-5 and 2-0 and retired). The Spaniard achieved victory after two sets of enormous physical demand, which ended up taking its toll on his rival (number 37 in the world), who had to withdraw due to leg cramps.
Alcaraz clearly dominated the net and once again gave a recital of drop shots, but Báez knew how to counter him on many occasions with unlikely lobs. Especially tough was the second round, in which both played to the limit in the suffocating heat. A great exam, both physical and psychological, the one passed by the Spanish.
"Neither Sebastian, nor the public nor anyone wanted a match like this after such a good match. It is not easy to suffer such a hard match. I have also had my problems but I have known how to manage them", explained the Murcian.
After this tough exam, still in the first round, Alcaraz will face the winner of the duel between Griekspoor and Coria. About Báez, Alcaraz recognized that "he is a very tough player. It is what a Grand Slam has. You have to give the level from the first round to the end".
For her part, Garbiñe Muguruza easily defeated the Danish Clara Tauson in straight sets (6-3 and 7-6(5)). Her next rival will be the Czech Linda Fruhvirtova. The Spanish, number nine in the world, needed two hours to break a Tauson who at 19 years old showed talent and competed with great commitment despite suffering some discomfort in one knee during the match.
The Spanish player never served in the first set and made a good break in the fourth game to win the partial 6-3 and take a valuable lead against a Tauson who this year was able to beat the Estonian Anett Kontaveit, number two in the world and then number seven, at the Australian Open.
Garbiñe seemed to be able to sentence the match without disheveled when he broke in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, but there he delivered his service and life was complicated.
Tauson, who requested medical attention due to a problem in his right knee, managed to recover a good level and had three set points at 5-4 in the light, but Muguruza managed to cancel them with his service and force the tiebreaker. He played it lucidly and came back from 0-3 to seal victory with a definitive 7-5 that sent him into the second round.
