Madrid open: Shot in the arm for Alcaraz

Madrid, April 26

Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz showed no sign of being hampered by a nagging arm injury as he eased to victory in his opening match at the Madrid Open today.

The third-ranked Alcaraz brushed aside Alexander Shevchenko 6-2 6-1 in his first match in nearly a month.

Alcaraz was coming off a right arm injury that kept him from playing in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. He had said this week that he wasn’t sure whether he could play in Madrid. “I didn’t know how I would feel on the court, and I had my doubts,” Alcaraz said.

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka faced tough resistance in her opening match before beating Magda Linette 6-3 4-6 6-3.

The second-ranked Sabalenka struggled with her serve at times, but the two-time Australian Open winner struck her 10th ace on match point at the Caja Magica in Spain’s capital.

Sabalenka got some help from the net to get a key break and go up 5-3 in the third set when Linette was unable to reach a shot by the Belarusian that clipped the top of the tape.

Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4 6-3, while American Ashlyn Krueger downed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 6-3. Mirra Andreeva, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Carolina Garcia, and Jasmine Paolini also advanced. — AP