Carlos Alcaraz goes past Botic van de Zandschulp in Rotterdam debut

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz was able to take his second-round US Open loss revenge against Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp in his Rotterdam debut on Tuesday. The Spaniard conceded an early break but soon bounced back to take the opening set to the tiebreaker, which he won.

The Dutchman took the second set but the four-time Slam champion took the third set comfortably by 6-1. Thus, he took the match by 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-1 against the Dutch wild card to qualify for the second round at the indoor hard-court ATP 500.

Alcaraz prevailed in two hour and 33 minutes to advance in the tournament.

“I think [there] were a lot of ups and downs in the match,” said Alcaraz who improved to 3-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Van de Zandschulp. “Being set point down in the first set, I think Botic played a really solid match. Not too many ups and downs for him, really consistent throughout the match. I’m just really happy to get through. [I had to] be really focused in the tough moments, to keep pushing and trust the good tennis will come again. I’m happy to get through a difficult match and have a chance to get better in the next round.”

The Spaniard has won 16 tour-level titles in his impressive young career but he is yet to reach the final at an indoor event.

“It was different, it’s totally different when you’re competing than in the practices,” Alcaraz said when asked of the conditions. “I started really nervous, I think it’s normal. The first match in every tournament is never easy. I just had to get used to my first match here in Rotterdam. You have to get used to playing with a full crowd, it’s totally different. I’m just happy to get used to it.”

Alcaraz will either face Vavassori or Auger-Aliassime in the second round at the indoor ATP 500.