US Open | Alcaraz advances to second round

(New York) Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (world No. 3), winner of the tournament in 2022, needed four sets to overcome Australian Li Tu (186^e) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday in the first round of the US Open in New York.

Both in black tank tops, their biceps bulging, Alcaraz and Tu, who came out of qualifying, offered some moments of great spectacle in the evening session in front of the dissipated public of the gigantic Arthur-Ashe court.

You (28 years old) notably won the second round.

But Alcaraz then raised his voice to finish quietly in 2 hours 42 minutes and reach the second round where he will face the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp (74^e).

“I love playing in New York every time, it’s one of the most electric courts I know. It’s an honor to come here, to try to show beautiful tennis, so that people have fun watching my matches,” the 21-year-old Spaniard told the court microphone, held by Nick Kyrgios.

” He [Tu] surprised me. In the first round, you could see that he was nervous, then he played really well and had fun. I probably made some mistakes that I could have avoided. He is a player that I will follow in the future,” Alcaraz said.

Li Tu (28 years old), a former Australian tennis hopeful, stopped playing tennis at 18, disgusted by the rigour required to reach the top, before picking up his racket again six years later.

Sinner loses a round and recovers

Italian world number one Jannik Sinner suffered a bit of a scare when he lost the first round of his tournament, before easily dominating American Mackenzie McDonald (140)^e) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday in New York.

Author of 14 unforced errors and broken three times, Sinner completely missed his first set, before regaining control of the match, McDonald seeming to give up completely from the end of the second set (15 points scored in the last two sets).

“He played very well at the beginning, I tried to stay in the match mentally. It’s my first victory on this court, after several attempts,” the Italian stressed at the stadium microphone.

Sinner (23 years old) showed up at Flushing Meadows on the back of his victory at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati last week, but especially with the revelation that he had been cleared by anti-doping after two positive tests for clostebol, an anabolic, in March.

“The response from the fans has been great, even after the news broke, during my training sessions I received a lot of encouragement,” appreciated the Italian.

“But it’s not easy to manage, I take things day by day.”

The handling of the case and its outcome have created controversy in the tennis microcosm, with some denouncing a two-speed anti-doping system, depending on the status of the player, enough to disrupt the Italian’s approach to the tournament, still exposed to a possible appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency.

“I can’t control what [les joueurs] think, or what they say. But if I have something to say to one of them, I do it privately, that’s how I operate.”

In the second round he will face the young American Alex Michelsen (49).^e).

Tsitsipas eliminated in the first round

Stefanos Tsitsipas, 11^e world champion, was eliminated on Tuesday in the first round of the United States International by Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (86).^e) 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

The American Major is the one that has been the least successful for him, since the 26-year-old Greek has never made it past the third round and was eliminated in the second round last year.

He is going through a difficult period, having notably broken up with his father as coach.

This year, the former world No. 3, finalist at Roland-Garros 2021 and the Australian Open 2023, did not go beyond the quarter-finals in the Grand Slam (reached at Roland-Garros), and was coming off a defeat in the second round at Wimbledon.

For his part, Kokkinakis will face Nuno Borges (34^e) or Federico Coria (79^e).

For his part, the British Dan Evans (184^e) won the longest match in US Open history on Tuesday, defeating Russian Karen Khachanov (22) in the first round.^e) 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4 in 5 hours 35 minutes of play.

Evans was trailing 4-0 in the final set before overturning Khachanov by seizing the last six games of this marathon encounter.

The US Open record dates back to 1992, when Swede Stefan Edberg beat American Michael Chang in the semi-final in 5 hours and 26 minutes.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played a historic quarter-final in 2022, lasting 5 hours and 15 minutes, with Alcaraz winning.

The longest match in Grand Slam history was played at Wimbledon in 2010 between Frenchman Nicolas Mahut and American John Isner, with the latter winning in 11 hours and 5 minutes with a final set won 70-68. An outcome that is now impossible, since all major tournaments have introduced the super tiebreaker (first to 10 points) in the event of a 6-6 tie in the final set by 2022 at the latest.