Efe

Updated Saturday, March 9, 2024-07:59

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Carlos Alcaraz

, current

Indian Wells

champion , began his title defense in the Californian desert this Friday with a victory against the Italian

Matteo Arnaldi

in a match that became very complicated for him and he ended up coming back brilliantly to qualify for the third round. .

The Spaniard,

number 2 in the world

and who did not have to play the first round, beat Arnaldi

6-7(5), 6-0 and 6-1

in two hours and 14 minutes, who occupies position 40 in the ranking of the ATP.

At the next crossing, Canadian

Felix Auger-Aliassime

, world number 31, awaits him.

Auger-Aliassime has a favorable 3-1 in their four meetings so far, but Alcaraz scored the last one, precisely in the 2023 Indian Wells quarterfinals.

Aside from the exhibition he played against Rafa Nadal in Las Vegas last week, Alcaraz had not competed since he had to withdraw due to a sprained ankle in

Rio de Janeiro on February 20

.

There was a lot of interest to see in the first Masters 1,000 of the season how

Alcaraz's ankle

responded on his return to competition and the initial sensations were positive with good mobility and no apparent problems.

His unmistakable smile also appeared, but what took a long time to make an appearance was his precision and consistency on the court.

Erratic

El Palmar accumulated 23 unforced errors

in a first round in which it was very difficult for him to find the rhythm and his game.

Alcaraz had only faced Arnaldi once and the Italian came out scalded.

It was in the round of 16 of the last US Open and the Spaniard closed the match in three sets and in less than two hours.

The one from San Remo offered a very different image tonight in the first set, much more courageous and solid than in that match at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

Despite his numerous errors and in some moments he was rash, Alcaraz broke his rival's serve (4-3), but the loot did not last long as Arnaldi hit back in the next game (4-4).

With a disgruntled expression, Alcaraz faced a set point against him with his serve and saved it with a hard serve and a great forehand going up to the net.

"You have to play every point, every point. Let's go," they told him from his team with Juan

Carlos Ferrero

at the helm.

But Arnaldi's temperance combined with Alcaraz's successive errors tipped the balance in favor of the Italian in the tie break.

That tough and very demanding set lasted 65 minutes

, but the second, fortunately for Alcaraz, had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Like day and night, Alcaraz reacted wonderfully, demonstrated a superb character and closed the next set in his favor with an

incontestable 6-0 in just 26 minutes

, taking his forehand out for a walk and gaining aggressiveness with his rest.

Instead, Arnaldi suddenly collapsed and began to accumulate failures relentlessly.

Alcaraz wasted five set points, but in the sixth he finished off the set with the outlook much clearer and with radically opposite sensations.

The script did not change in the third round, with Alcaraz clearly dominating the match, increasingly comfortable and boasting versatility in his blows and with the wind in his favor against an Arnaldi who ran out of gas.

Alcaraz broke Arnaldi's serve the first time he had (2-0) and, with the scare of the first set completely forgotten, he completed the fast-track comeback and earned his ticket for the third round.