Alcaraz survives early scare to win Madrid opener

Carlos Alcaraz came out victorious in his first round of the Madrid Open match against 41st-ranked Emil Ruusuvuori 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Friday.

CAR-LI-TOS 🔥🔥

Defending champ @carlosalcaraz comes through an epic to begin his 2023 campaign!#MMOpen pic.twitter.com/4e1UPnTD1p

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 28, 2023

The defending champion was on the ropes after losing the first set in a convincing fashion and his Finnish opponent seemed to be on course to take a decisive lead in the second, before the Spaniard saved 5 break points in the 6th game to draw the score level at 3-3.

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Shortly after he accomplished his first break in the match and established a commanding lead in the set, clinching it soon afterwards. It was smooth sailing in the third set for Alcaraz as he emerged victorious in the match.

“I am just happy I could get this very difficult win. . . .” he said in the post match interview

“Maybe people think that I should win easily or not get into trouble in matches, but each match is its own world. It was a very hard match. You just have to stay humble and accept the bad moments as they come and try to turn it around.”

Alcaraz successfully defended his title in Barcelona last weekend and with Djokovic out of the picture in Madrid, he has his sights firmly on the No.1 spot in the rankings.