Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his career on court in Beijing on Friday, defeating Yannik Hanfmann 6-4, 6-3 to make a winning debut at the ATP 500 date.
The Spanish 20-year-old played and won his first match at the event in 97 minutes, breaking the German qualifier five times from 16 chances on the hardcourt.
“I’m really happy to be able to win this match in straight sets,” the winner said.
“Yannick’s a really dangerous player, big shots.
“He was playing big bombs in this match so I had to be really focussed, trying to not let him dominate..
“I tried to be really focussed on every part of my game. But I have to improve a little bit to have another chance to be better in the next round.”
The Spaniard next plays italian Lorenzo Musetti, a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 winner over Karen Khachanov.
Alcaraz is working in this closing phase of the season to regain the No. 1 ranking he lost to US Open champion Novak Djokovic.
While the Serb will not compete again until the Paris Masters in a month, Alcaraz will have a full-on calendar with chances to overhaul the 37-year-old.
Alcaraz improved his season record to 59-7 overall, leading the ATP table; he owns six titles from eight 2023 finals.
“Hopefully I have a lot of years to come here to China. Creating my chapter here in China would be great for me,” Alcaraz said.
“To finally be able to come here to China and show my tennis in front of the Chinese people is something that I wanted a long time ago.
“I’m really happy to do it, hopefully the first of many here.”
Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz celebrates in Beijing – by China Open
