The Spaniard got rid of the South African Lloyd Harris 6-3, 6-1 and 7-6 (4) and his next rival will be the British Daniel Evans
Without major problems or setbacks, Carlos Alcaraz He won his ticket for the third round of the US Open on Thursday with a three-set victory against South African Lloyd Harris. The current champion of the ‘big’ New York and number one in the ATP (he will lose this position no matter what happens in this tournament in favor of the Serbian Novak Djokovic) defeated Harris, who occupies the 177th position in the world, 6-3, 6-1 and 7-6 (4) in two hours and 28 minutes.
With Djokovic (2) as a great threat on the other side of the field (they would only see each other in the final), Alcaraz has begun the defense of his title in a peaceful way. Except in the last set, Harris hardly put up any resistance tonight and Germany’s Dominik Koepfer (75), his opponent in the first round, retired with an injury in the second set after spraining his ankle in the first game of the match.
The curves for the Murcian will probably begin in the next round with his match against the British Daniel Evans. World number 26, Evans, who this Thursday beat the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp (65), has lost his two matches so far against Alcaraz: in the round of 32 in Vienna in 2021 and in the semifinals of the Conde de Godó this year .
The duel against Evans will require that Alcaraz have to put his tennis one more gear, especially against the ‘ogres’ that could appear later on his way to the final: the British Cameron Norrie (16) in the round of 16, the Italian Jannik Sinner (6 ) in the quarterfinals and the Russian Daniil Medvedev (3) in the semifinals.
In front of Alcaraz appeared tonight Harris, a lanky tennis player (1.93 tall) who reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2021 and who in 2022 had to undergo surgery to fix a wrist injury, which He left him six months without competing. The South African had never faced Alcaraz before -although he had trained with him on several occasions- but it didn’t take him long to discover the pressure of meeting the Murcian in New York, as it took him nine long minutes to secure his first serve. Nor did Alcaraz enter the game particularly well since He had to save two ‘break’ balls in his first turn to serve.
After some initial inaccuracies, the man from El Palmar settled on the track, began to dominate Harris and took glimpses of his usual catalog of wonders (rights, left-handed, lobs…). Alcaraz broke the serve of Harris (3-2), who on more than one occasion let out a resigned smile at what was coming from the other side of the net, and closed the first sleeve in 44 minutes thanks to a new ‘break’ after a double fault from his rival.
The second manga followed a similar script. The Spaniard started with some doubts, especially in a couple of climbs to the net, but as soon as he needed it he stepped on the accelerator to completely disarm his rival. Thus, Alcaraz only conceded one game in that fantastic second set and left magical details for an Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd delighted with the 20-year-old.
In the third set, Harris clearly raised the level and got to 2-4 in his favor after Alcaraz lost his serve after a double fault. But the Murcian returned the ‘break’ then stopped the momentum of a Harris who grew at times and, although had to wait for the ‘tie break’, sealed the victory in three sets.
As soon as the match ended, Alcaraz assured on the court that winning in three sets “is really important in the first rounds” and he kept the high level he showed in the second set. “I played a very good second set, without many mistakes, playing my game,” summed up Alcaraz, who insisted that he always tries to “enjoy” on the court and “entertain” the New York spectators.