Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz superior to the spherical of 16 on the Qatar Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Croatian veteran Marin Cilic on Monday.
Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion who has dropped to No. 192 within the rankings, was taking part in his first match of the season after recovering from a long-term knee damage. Despite trailing 4-3 and going through a 0-40 deficit on his serve within the second set, Alcaraz rallied and broke Cilic within the following sport to seal the victory.
“I am just really happy that I stayed calm at that moment, breathing, going through my routines, making good points,” Alcaraz mentioned. “That’s why I was able to win in two sets.”
Alcaraz will face both Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy’s Luca Nardi subsequent.
Earlier, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov misplaced 6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka.
Also on Monday, eighth-seeded Jack Draper defeated Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 7-6 (4) to arrange a gathering with fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell.
Several different high gamers will play their first matches on Tuesday.
Second-seeded Alex de Minaur will face Roman Safiullin. Novak Djokovic, who needed to withdraw from his Australian Open semifinal attributable to a hamstring damage, will tackle Matteo Berrettini.
Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and Stefanos Tsitsipas can even play on Tuesday.
Source: www.dailysabah.com