Carlos Alcaraz powered into the third round of the US Open and repeated his golf swing celebration after a dominant 6-1 6-0 6-3 win over Italy’s Mattia Bellucci.
Alcaraz, who has caught attention with his new haircut, capped off a first round win over Riley Opelka by swinging his tennis racket towards the crowd, which included the No 2 golf player in the world and five-time major champion Rory McIlroy, and the Spaniard repeated it on Wednesday night.
“It’s getting better with the tennis racket this year,” Alcaraz joked after his latest victory.
“I have to say it. Yeah, I did it in the first round because Rory was there, and I think I own it.”
The Spaniard broke his opponent’s serve seven times without facing a single break point in the first match of the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium, sending down 32 winners and winning 86% of his first serve points.
Second seed Alcaraz, champion in 2022, ensured there would be no repeat of his early departure last year, setting the tone by breaking Bellucci twice at the start of the opening set, showcasing his powerful forehand and sharp volleys.
“I played great from the beginning to the last ball,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “I know Mattia’s level and today wasn’t his day. I tried to make the most of his mistakes, trying to be in the match getting a good rhythm.”
Afterwards, Alcaraz said that his straight-sets loss to Botic van de Zandschulp at the same stage last year had been playing on his mind.
“If I’m honest, I thought about last year when I stepped on the court. Some bad thoughts,” he said. “I was nervous about it, like thinking, okay, I don’t want to do the same thing as I did last year, losing in the second round.
“I think I played a really solid match today. I just set some goals at the beginning of the match, which I think I did pretty well.
“There are some things that I have to improve that I didn’t do as well as I wanted, but in general, really happy.”
