New Delhi: Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz produced a hard-fought straight sets victory over Marin Cilic to advance to the round of 16 at the ongoing Qatar Open. Croatian veteran Cilic, who came back into the match after a long-term knee injury, played his first match of the season but was unable to showcase his prowess, going down against the Spanish ace 4-6, 4-6.
Cilic, who is a a 2014 U.S. Open champion, led the first set 4-3 and 0-40 on the Spanish’s serve in the second set but Alcaraz managed to bounce back, eventually breaking in the next game. 36-year-old Cilic, who was one’s considered to be a powerful name in the world of tennis, tried hard to make things turn his way in the game but Alcaraz was quick to groove back in style and finish a fantastic victory. The Croatian star has fallen to number 192 in the current rankings because of his lacklustre performances and injuries.
Alcaraz to play Zhizhen or Nardi next
In his next clash at the event, Carlos Alcaraz will play either Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy’s Luca Nardi on Wednesday. The game up next will be slightly testing for Alcaraz as both the players are tactically elevated on the court. After the victory, Alcaraz said that he feels very elated that he was able to maintain his calmness throughout the game and that’s the reason he scored some good points and eventually completed the victory in two sets.
In some other matches, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov lost 4-6, 4-6 to Jiri Lehecka and eight-seeded player Jack Draper beat Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 7-6 to set up a clash withe Australian tennis player Christopher O’Connell.
Some of the top names in tennis will play their first matches on Tuesday with game between Serbian ace Novak Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini headlining the fixtures. Second seed player Alex de Minaur will take on Roman Safiullin in another contest. Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Stefano Tsitsipas will also play on Tuesday.
In his next contest at the ongoing Qatar Open, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz will play either Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy’s Luca Nardi. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
