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The defending Indian Wells champion and world No.2, Carlos Alcaraz, playing in his first tournament since retiring with an ankle injury two weeks ago in Rio de Janeiro, at first was made to work hard by Matteo Arnaldi but once in his stride, strode through comfortably into round three.
I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end Carlos Alcaraz
The first set was tight and extremely entertaining as the Italian kept abreast of the play snatching the opening set on a tiebreak, but that galvanised the 20-year-old Spaniard who immediately claimed the next nine consecutive games to secure a 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1 victory after two-hours, 14-minutes of play.
“I had to change just a few things,” Alcaraz admitted on losing the first set. “I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end.”
As a match, the pair put on an excellent performance especially in the opening set with Arnaldi, the world No.40, making the most of the champion’s lack of recent match play though Alcaraz showed several flashes of brilliance as he found his feet.
Carlos Alcaraz shakes hands at the net after his three set victory over Matteo Arnaldi
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
But the Italian played his best late in the set coming back after dropping serve to trail 3-4, and the holding his nerve to close out the opening tie-break from 5-2.
In that opening set, Alcaraz hit 10 winners and made 23 unforced errors but once in his stride in the next set, he reduced the errors tally to just two and maintained control in the decider conceding just one game and fending off break points in the fifth game to hold for 4-1.
Any fears that there might be some lingering problems with the ankle were certainly dashed.
“Honestly it surprised me. I felt great, moving normally without thinking about it,” Alcaraz, who faces Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime next, said. “It was a really good match to realise that I am better than I thought. I think I played great tennis because of that.”
Ben Shelton showing excellent form
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Earlier on Friday, home favourite Ben Shelton scored a comeback win of his own, scoring a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Czech Jakub Mensik.
“I had to dig deep tonight,” Shelton said after two-hour battle. “He’s an offensive player, a guy with a big game. I just had to ramp up my aggression a little bit. I felt like I let him take it to me a little bit in the first set. Once I got deep in the second set, I started finding some winners with my forehand and playing a little bit more aggressive.”
Through to the Indian Wells third round for the first time with the help of eight aces, the American will face 22nd seed from Argentina, Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the last 16.
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