Carlos Alcaraz Battles Through In First Match Since Australian Open

Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz battled through against local hero Botic van de Zandschulp at the Rotterdam Open on Tuesday, his first match since quarter-final heartbreak at the Australian Open. The top seed had to dig deep to overcome the wildcard ranked 81 places below him, eventually coming through the first-round clash 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-1 in nearly three hours. "It was a really difficult match. I had to get through some really difficult moments," Alcaraz said. "I started the match a little bit nervous, making some mistakes. I let him dominate the match, play his style," added the Spaniard.

Van de Zandschulp stunned Alcaraz with a straight-sets win at last year's US Open and the higher-ranked man initially struggled to find his range on the slow Rotterdam indoor surface. 

A series of uncharacteristic errors handed the Dutchman several breaks of serve and Alcaraz became increasingly frustrated, chuntering at his box and the chair umpire.

Van de Zandschulp had a set point at 5-4 but contrived to serve a double fault. Alcaraz sniffed an opportunity and he brought the match back on level terms at 5-5 with a powerful forehand drive.

The set felt destined for a tie-break and sure enough, the pair were soon locked at 6-6. Alcaraz saved his best form for the key moment, unleashing several winners to take the tie-break 7-3.

The second set was also hard-fought, going on serve until the sixth game when an errant Alcaraz backhand gifted Van de Zandschulp a break and a 4-2 lead.

The local favourite served for the set at 5-3 and levelled the match at one set all as Alcaraz hit yet another forehand wide to the delight of the partisan home crowd.

'Up and down'

Two double faults and a wild forehand swung the match back in the