Carlos Alcaraz admitted he was not happy with his level against Alex Michelsen despite the opening round win of the Japan Open. The Spaniard registered a 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-1 win to book his second-round spot at the hard-court ATP 500.
The youngster had to dig deep as he lost the second set but bounced back strongly against the American. Alcaraz’s serve was broken five times by the US Open quarterfinalist but the seven-time Slam champion raised his level when he needed to in crucial moments of the match.
In the opening set, Alcaraz was down 2-4 but was able to come back into the contest. The American won the second set but Alcaraz was dominant in the deciding set, racing to a 5-0 lead.
Alcaraz said in the post-match press conference, “It was a really good and intense match I’d say, I’m just happy to get the win in the end but I’m a little bit unhappy about my level, I think it could be better,” answered Alcaraz.
“But first round every tournament is always really difficult, playing against someone like Alex is always tough, great player, so I’d say tough match but really happy to get the win in three sets.”
The Spaniard admitted he didn’t handle the situation well while playing with the old balls in the opening set.
“I would say for me it took time to relax how I should play, and it’s totally different sports when it’s new balls then after three games, you have to change your game completely,” added Alcaraz. “I would say at the beginning I didn’t accept it and I wanted to play the same game, the same style, doesn’t matter if it was new balls or used balls.”
Alcaraz will next take on Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the second round of the Japan Open.
