NEW YORK (Reuters) – Carlos Alcaraz was given a scare by Australian qualifier Li Tu in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday before going on to seal a 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-1 victory.
Four-times Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Paris Olympics, got off to a hot start before the errors began to pile up and he dropped the second set.
The Spaniard restored order by whipping a forehand to break in the third for a 4-3 lead and never looked back, sealing the win with his eighth ace to set up a second-round meeting with Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp.
Tu, an Adelaide native who stepped away from tennis in 2014 for six years to get a degree and start a tennis academy, won three qualifying matches to earn his first appearance on Arthur Armstrong Stadium court against the third seed.
Alcaraz won the French Open in June and defeated Djokovic to triumph at Wimbledon a month later but was left bitterly disappointed after falling short at the Paris Games before suffering a shock defeat by Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open.
The 21-year-old, who won the U.S. Open in 2022, showed no signs that his movement was limited by a right ankle injury he suffered during a practice session on Saturday.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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