In his last
showdown before the
Australian Open,
Carlos Alcaraz defeated
Casper Ruud 6-4,
6-2 in the Kooyong Classic exhibition, held on the Rod Laver Arena central court
in an hour and 29 minutes. It was a remarkable triumph for Alcaraz, who found
himself 4-2, 40-0 down in the score, but he stepped on the gas, winning 10 of
the last 12 games to claim the victory.
Although
Alcaraz didn't have the best start to the match, he dominated in backhand
exchanges and capitalized on some of Ruud's service issues. However, as an
exhibition match, neither of the two took too many physical risks, and in the
end, 'Carlitos' secured the victory, leaving good impressions for his
participation in the Aussie Open.
Alcaraz awaits
his debut
World No. 2
didn’t play official matches before his debut in Melbourne and utilized the
exhibitions to find his rhythm just two days before facing the Frenchman
Richard Gasquet (No. 131).
With the
main draw draw defined, Alcaraz leads the bottom half of the draw and will play
on the third day of competition. He will have to wait for the first two days to
determine the section of the bracket led by Novak Djokovic before commencing
his participation.
With
Djokovic defending a significant number of points, Alcaraz has an opportunity
to reclaim the No. 1 spot in Australia. Although Djokovic currently leads by
2,200 points, when factoring in the points he defends in Melbourne, the gap
narrows to just 200 points. This means that Alcaraz could become No. 1 if he
wins the tournament or advances further than Djokovic
Previous performances
in Melbourne
Until now,
Alcaraz hasn't achieved notable results at the Australian Open, although his
circumstances in previous editions were very different from his current status.
In 2021, he reached the second round in his first Grand Slam main draw, and in
2022, he made it to the third round in Melbourne, accumulating...
However, in
2023, he suffered from an injury that kept him out in the latter part of 2022
and the beginning of 2023, precisely when he held the world No. 1 ranking and
was the most recent Grand Slam champion, winning the US Open trophy.