Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, world No. 1 since winning the United States Open in September, was beaten 7-5, 6-3 by Belgium’s David Goffin in the first round of the ATP 500 tournament in Astana on Tuesday.
Drafted following the retirement of Dane Holger Rune, the current world number 66 handed the 19-year-old Spaniard his first set defeat since November 2021.
Alcaraz was playing his first ATP tournament after winning in New York. Meanwhile, he has played two Davis Cup matches with Spain, for a win against South Korea’s Kwon Soonwoo and a loss to Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime (13th in the world).
“Of course, it’s not the result I wanted, but we have to keep working! reacted the youngest world No. 1 in history on Twitter.
Seventh in the world in 2017, his best ranking, Goffin, now 31, had already shown recently that it was probably in his favor during the Davis Cup despite Belgium’s disqualification.
It is his third win against a world No. 1 after his two successes against Rafael Nadal at the Masters in 2017 and the ATP Cup in 2020.
“I still think I have the level to cause problems for these players,” Goffin said after the win over Alcaraz. “When you’re playing against the world No. 1 in a big arena, in front of a crowd, there’s a fire inside you that gives you so much energy to play your best tennis that you have no choice. »
The Belgian, winner of this season’s clay-court tournament in Marrakech, his sixth career title, will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who defeated Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, on Wednesday.
