Carlos Alcaraz leaves his injury behind him and starts the 2023 season with a victory in Buenos Aires

It was not in his plans, but for Carlos Alcaraz (2nd ATP) the 2023 season has just started on February 15. A muscle injury left him without a chance to play the ocean tour, losing the opportunity to play the Australian Open and defend the world number one on the court.

But with this past annoyance, the Spaniard has chosen to return to South American clay. A superlative presence for a circuit that is not used to having players fighting for number one. And in their first meeting at Court Guillermo Vilas, they demonstrated their position as the tournament’s top seed.

He beat Serbian Laslo Djere (57th) in three sets , who at one point seemed completely overwhelmed, but in the second set managed to snatch the set from the current US Open champion. This is the biggest self-criticism of Alcaraz, who knows that he failed to show his best version in his first meeting with the city of Buenos Aires. “Coming back to competition isn’t easy, I go to every tournament thinking I’m going to win or that’s the goal. After four months without playing, it was a great match for me, but far from the level I always play “, he commented in a press conference after the victory 6-2, 4-6 and 6-2.

And it is that the Spaniard has managed to combine a great defensive style with changes of rhythm that have allowed him to close the points from below. A specialty in his game, which has always been helped when he plays on this surface. Moreover, the trans-Andean public was always on his side, showing that even if he was not local, he was the one who was going to see. “For me, it is a pleasure to experience this in Argentina. I expected that honey, but not that much. It was my first match, my first round and the truth is that I felt at home. It’s appreciated and it helped me a lot when I came back from competition to have this affection from people “, he added.

From now on, he will find another Serb: Dusan Lajovic (90°). The duel is scheduled for Friday and will offer a place for the semi-finals of the South American event that he has the best chance of becoming an ATP 500 player next year. A new opportunity to see how the Murcian adds pace to attack the ATP rankings again.

After Buenos Aires, it will be Rio de Janeiro then the United States . In North America he will have to be ready, because there he will return to hard courts and two Masters 1000. Big words, but for Alcaraz they are not a problem. Of course, he will have to defend many points, since in 2022 he was champion in Miami and semi-finalist in Indian Wells.