Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates a point against Emil Ruusuvuori, of Finland, during their match at the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain.
Carlos Alcaraz delighted fans at the Madrid Open when he channeled the crowd’s energy and emerged the winner of a tough match.
After facing an early upset, the defending champion managed to dig deep and claim a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Finnish opponent Emil Ruusuvuori.
Alcaraz, who will turn 20 soon, saved five break points in a vital game to maintain his level against Ruusuvuori before securing a crucial break in the subsequent game. The Spanish youngster acknowledged the partisan crowd after the match and thanked them for their support.
Ranked second, Alcaraz was expected to move closer to the top spot of the world ranking and replace the injured Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. However, his win was uncertain after Ruusuvuori defeated him on the hard court of Miami last year.
But Alcaraz’s win against Ruusuvuori adds to his string of victories, which includes the U.S. Open and his successful defense of the Barcelona Open title. However, Alcaraz dismissed any expectations that he should win easily and instead valued each match’s unique challenges.
In other matches, Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi defeated third-seeded Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-4, while fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev won against Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4. Rublev has a 9-1 record on clay this year. The women’s no. 1 seed, Iga Swiatek, faced Julia Grabher later in the tournament.