Carlos Alcaraz was given a scare by Australian qualifier Li Tu in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday before going on to seal a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory in New York.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Paris Olympics, got off to a hot start before errors began to pile up and he dropped the second set.
The Spaniard restored order by whipping a forehand to break in the third set for a 4-3 lead and never looked back, claiming the victory with his eighth ace to set up a second-round meeting with Dutch player Botic Van De Zandschulp.
Tu, an Adelaide native who stepped away from tennis in 2014 for six years to get a degree and start a tennis academy, won three qualifying matches to earn his first appearance on Arthur Armstrong Stadium court against the third seed.