THE HAGUE, FEB 5: Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz battled through against local hero Botic van de Zandschulp at the Rotterdam Open on Tuesday, his first match since quarter-final heartbreak at the Australian Open.
The top seed had to dig deep to overcome the wildcard ranked 81 places below him, eventually coming through the first-round clash 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-1 in nearly three hours.
"It was a really difficult match. I had to get through some really difficult moments," Alcaraz said.
"I started the match a little bit nervous, making some mistakes. I let him dominate the match, play his style," added the Spaniard.
Van de Zandschulp stunned Alcaraz with a straight-sets win at last year's US Open and the higher-ranked man initially struggled to find his range on the slow Rotterdam indoor surface.
A series of uncharacteristic errors handed the Dutchman several breaks of serve and Alcaraz became increasingly frustrated, chuntering at his box and the chair umpire.
Van de Zandschulp had a set point at 5-4 but contrived to serve a double fault. Alcaraz sniffed an opportunity and he brought the match back on level terms at 5-5 with a powerful forehand drive.
The set felt destined for a tie-break and sure enough, the pair were soon locked at 6-6. Alcaraz saved his best form for the key moment, unleashing several winners to take the tie-break 7-3.
The second set was also hard-fought, going on serve until the sixth game when an errant Alcaraz backhand gifted Van de Zandschulp a break and a 4-2 lead.
The local favourite served for the set at 5-3 and levelled the match at one set all as Alcaraz hit yet another forehand wide to the delight of the partisan home crowd. �AFP
