Carlos Alcaraz wins 1st match of the year at Argentina Open Dominic Thiem wins 1st match of 2023 at Argentina Open Wu Yibing tops John Isner, is 1st from China with ATP Tour title

BUENOS AIRES. Runner-up Carlos Alcaraz won his first match of the year by beating Laszlo Jere 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 at the Argentine Open.

The 19-year-old US Open champion missed the Australian Open with a leg injury and lost the top spot to Novak Djokovic, who won the title in Melbourne.

Alcaraz will face Dusan Lajovic in the quarterfinals of the clay court tournament. Lajovic beat Camilo Hugo Carabelli 6-3, 6-1.

Local favorite Diego Schwartzman and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem will battle it out for a place in the quarter-finals.

BUENOS AIRES — Dominic Thiem has achieved his main goal at the Argentine Open by taking his first win of the year after suffering a stomach injury and struggling with his form.

Tim, the 2020 US Open champion, whose career-best finish is 3rd, entered the tournament with the number 99 and said he feared losing his safe place in the top ATP tournaments if he continued to fall in the rankings.

The 29-year-old Austrian beat seventh seed Alex Molchan 7-6 (4), 6-3 in a clay tournament. In the second round, Thiem will face Juan Pablo Varillas.

Tim won in Buenos Aires in 2016 and 2018. Most recently, he was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open by Andrey Rublev.

This year’s reigning champion Kasper Ruud will miss the tournament. The main attraction is runner-up Carlos Alcaraz, who will face Laszlo Jere in the second round.

DALLAS. Wu Yibing became the first Chinese player to win an ATP Tour title, going in a three-set tiebreaker thriller to defeat John Isner at the Dallas Open.

Wu cleared 44 aces from Isner with a big serve – one short of a three-set record – and four match points in a 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-6(12) win. The 23-year-old became the first Chinese player to compete in an ATP final.

Wu also returned from a set to beat American top seed Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals. In Wu’s victory over Isner, the fifth seed who played in the tournament in his hometown, there were no service breaks.

“It’s not just about winning a title, I think it’s more about me personally making history and also for the country,” said Wu, who was the first Chinese to reach the third round of the US Open. when he did it in qualifying. last year.

“This is very important for the next generation,” Wu said. “As for me, I need to keep going, keep my body healthy. I’m sure there’s more to come.”

Leading 8-7 in the third set tiebreaker, Isner came up to net for an easy volley that hit the top of the net and stayed on Isner’s side. The 6-foot-10 American felt his opportunity was wasted, sat for a few minutes and fiddled with the strings on his racquet.

Wu saved another match point at 10-9 and had four match points of his own in the final tiebreaker before finally converting an Isner serve when Isner sent a right hand wide of Wu’s return.

Wu fell on his back in disbelief and remained lying long enough for Isner to stumble upon the net to congratulate him.

It was the first decider-set tiebreaker in Wu’s career, making it to the top 60 rankings for the first time.

Struggling with injuries that kept him off the field for most of the 2019/20 season before the pandemic upstaged him, Wu was #1121 a year ago.

“I’ve been through a lot,” Wu said. “I think the reason I’m relaxed on the tennis courts now is because I trust myself. If you want to beat me, you’ll have to work hard.”

Since his return, Wu has a 50-10 match record and won three ATP Challenger titles before his breakthrough in Dallas.

Isner attempted his 17th career title in his 31st final. He reached the semi-finals at the first Dallas Open last year before losing in the semi-finals to eventual champion Reilly Opelka.