(London) Carlos Alcaraz rallied from a one-set deficit before defeating Arthur Rinderknech in his first match of the season on grass at the Queen’s Club Championships on Tuesday.
Alcaraz, noh 2 in the world, won 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3) over Rinderknech, ranked 83e. Rinderknech took advantage of Arthur Fils’ forfeit to secure a spot in the main draw.
“It was a very difficult match,” said Alcaraz. I had difficulty adapting at the start of the match, adapting my tennis, my game, to the grass. »
Rinderknech gave Alcaraz trouble early in the game with his powerful serve and commanding presence at the net. The Spaniard was playing his seventh career match on grass, a first outside of Wimbledon.
Alcaraz also recovered from a service break in the third set before dominating their rival in the tiebreaker. He landed some memorable shots during the tiebreaker and eventually converted his third match point.
“For me it’s difficult to play here, but I like playing on grass and I wanted to participate in this tournament,” noted Alcaraz.
It was Alcaraz’s first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the French Open semi-finals on clay. Alcaraz then went to Ibiza to take his mind off things.
Second seed Holger Rune defeated American Maxime Cressy 7-6(4), 7-6(3), earning his first grass court match on the ATP Tour. Rune had lost in the first round in all three grass outings last year.
American Frances Tiafoe won her first match as a member of the top 10 World Cup, winning 6-2, 6-4 against Botic van De Zandschulp.
Tiafoe is the fourth seed in London. He won the grass-court tournament in Stuttgart last week, which allowed him to climb to 10e world rank, his best ranking in his career.
