Alcaraz To Face Hurkacz Or Murray In Vienna
Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, worked hard for victory on Monday at the Erste Bank Open.
The #NextGenATP Spaniard completed a 6-4, 6-3 win over Daniel Evans of Great Britain with his third ace in a first ATP Head2Head meeting over 85 minutes. Alcaraz will next challenge fifth-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz, who is attempting to qualify for next month’s Nitto ATP Finals, or another Briton, former World No. 1 Andy Murray.
“I felt really good on court,” said Alcaraz. “I’m not used to playing on an indoor court, but I am very happy to have won against a great player. It’s amazing to get experience in a tournament like this.”
In a first set that featured five breaks of serve, Alcaraz recovered from 15/40 at 4-4 and clinched the 49-minute opener when Evans struck a backhand slice approach into the net.
It didn’t dent Evans’ confidence with the World No. 24 coming within two points of a 4-1 lead in the second set. But Alcaraz fought back to win 16 of the last 18 points to improve to a 23-15 match record on the season.
The 18-year-old, who will compete at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals from 9-13 November, captured his first ATP Tour title in July at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag (d. Gasquet).
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Earlier in the day, Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili overcame another two-time ATP Tour titlist this year, Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 31 minutes. Basilashvili picked up trophies in Doha (d. Bautista Agut) and Munich (d. Struff) this year, while Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Carreno Busta lifted silverware in Marbella (d. Munar) and Hamburg (d. Krajinovic). Basilashvili, who reached the recent BNP Paribas Open final, next plays third-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini or qualifier Alexei Popyrin of Australia.
Australia’s Alex de Minaur withstood 21 aces from the racquet of South African qualifier Kevin Anderson for a 6-3, 7-6(3) win in just over 90 minutes. He will play second-seed German Alexander Zverev or Filip Krajinovic of Serbia in the second round.