Alcaraz awaits a third-round showdown with the winner of Frenchman Ugo Humbert and American Tommy Paul, who upset the reigning US Open champion last week in Toronto.
The Spaniard, who improved to 12-0 in his opening-round matches this year, reached the 50-wins milestone in his 12th tournament of the year on Tuesday night. Last season his 50th match win came in the semi-finals of the US Open, his 14th tournament of the season.
The 20-year-old, who improved to 50-5 on the year, is looking for his seventh title of 2023 to add to crowns won in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Queen’s and Wimbledon.
Alcaraz must reach the final this week to be guaranteed of continuing his run atop the ATP Rankings for the 34th week on Monday. Anything less than a run to the final leaves open several scenarios under which Serbian great Novak Djokovic could reclaim top spot.
On the other hand, Djokovic made his first appearance in the USA in nearly two years as he played doubles with fellow Serb Nikola Cacic but suffered a 4-6, 2-6 loss British-Kiwi pairing Jamie Murray and Michael Venus.
This was the Serb’s first competitive match after his Wimbledon final loss against world no. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. Moreover, the ATP 1000 event is Djokovic’s only tournament before the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, starts on August 28 at Flushing Meadows in New York.
The 23-time grand slam champion is set to open singles play on Wednesday night against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Djokovic has not played in North America since losing in the 2021 US Open final as he has been unable to enter the USA due to vaccine protocols that require international travelers to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
–IANS
bc/cs
