The Canadian held from 0-40 in his opening service game, but Alcaraz pressed again in his next return game—converting his fifth break point with a winning forehand drop shot-forehand stretch volley combination. The 22-year-old consolidated from 30-40 and for Auger-Aliassime, finding a way back in from that point forward became one tall order.
With pummeling shot-making, Alcaraz broke at love to cap a tremendous opening set with 13 winners and just two unforced errors. Staying in front of his opponent, the six-time major winner secured the lone break at the end of set two to shut the door shut at the 83-minute mark.
“I felt like I could do everything on court. Doesn’t matter if I go forehand down the line, drop shot, backhand down the line, I felt like everything was going to be in,” he told ATP Media afterwards. “I think that confidence (was) really helpful, coming through the whole match. Just pushing him to the limits, to do something different.”
