IMAGE: Carlos Alcaraz reacts during his opening round match against Croatia’s Marin Cilic at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha on Monday. Photographs: Ibraheem Al Omari/Reuters
World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz found himself trailing in the second set to Croatia’s Marin Cilic, but battled back for a 6-4, 6-4 win Monday in the opening round at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.
With Cilic — the former World No. 3 — on the verge of taking a 5-3 lead in the second set, Alcaraz rebounded while serving at 0-40 down and notched 14 of the next 19 points to seal the victory. Alcaraz, who saved five of six break points, will face World No. 7 Novak Djokovic of Croatia if both reach the semi-finals.
Czech Jiri Lehecka upset No. 7 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-4, taking 35 of 40 first-serve points (88 percent) and saving both break points he faced. Other first-round winners included No. 8 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain, Fabian Marozsan of Hungary and Australia’s Christopher O’Connell.
Taiwanese qualifier Chun-Hsin Tseng stunned third-seeded Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 6-2, 7-5 in the first round at Rio de Janeiro.
Tseng, ranked 125th in the world, finished with a 6-0 edge in aces en route to the 1-hour, 36-minute victory.
Another Chilean, sixth-seeded Nicolas Jarry, rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Argentine qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
The home fans had four Brazilian players to cheer on, but only one advanced, as wild card Thiago Monteiro nipped Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko defeated wild card Felipe Meligeni Alves 6-4, 6-2; Argentina’s Francisco Comesana eliminated Gustavo Heide 7-6 (2), 6-7 (7), 6-3; and Spain’s Jaume Munar topped Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.
