Tennis: Defending Champ Alcaraz Recovers From Mid-Match Dip To Win At Queen's Club

(MENAFN- IANS) London, June 18 (IANS) Former World No.1 and French Open 2024 winner Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return to the Queens Club championship, beating Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets in his first match on grass since his Roland Garros triumph earlier this month.

The Spaniard World No.2, who lifted his third title in the French Open, was not at his best in his first grass-court match of 2024 but found a way to move past Cerundolo 6-1, 7-5 and reach the second round.

"The first match in any tournament is never easy but even more difficult here on grass, starting the grass season," Alcaraz was quoted as saying by ATP Tour in a report.

"You want to do a good result and have to deal with a lot of expectations that you put on yourself. I am really happy with the match and it was a good test, playing with Francisco. It was close in the second set. It is good to have tough situations. Having to deal with nerves," he said.

Alcaraz is the defending champion in this ATP 500 event, having dropped just one set en route to the title last season. The 21-year-old backed that up by winning Wimbledon. The top seed started quickly in his first head-to-head From there, Alcaraz battled back impressively, saving three set points on serve at 4-5 before sealing victory to extend his winning streak on the surface to 13 matches.

From there, Alcaraz battled back impressively, saving three set points on serve at 4-5 before sealing victory to extend his winning streak on the surface to 13 matches. He will next play Stuttgart champion Jack Draper or Argentine Mariano Navone following his 82-minute win.

Earlier, Lorenzo Musetti upset second seed Alex de Minaur 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. De Minaur was competing at a career-high No. 7 in the ATP Rankings, having won the title in 's-Hertogenbosch last week. With his victory, Musetti snapped a 13-match losing steak against Top 10 opponents. The Italian next meets Daniel Evans or Brandon Nakashima.

Former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Taylor Fritz defeated Taro Daniel 6-3, 6-3, while Sebastian Korda continued his good grass-court form by downing Karen Khachanov 7-5, 7-6(5). Korda advanced to the title match at the ATP 250 event in 's-Hertogenbosch. Italian Matteo Arnaldi eliminated 2021 Halle champ Ugo Humbert 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(6), saving one match point.

Alejandro Tabilo and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina's match was suspended on Monday night at the start of the third set. Tabilo returned to seal a 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-1 win.

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