World number one Carlos Alcaraz, appearing in his first Tour competition since clinching a maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open, was dumped out of the Astana Open by David Goffin in a shock first-round defeat.
The 19-year-old made an early exit in Kazakhstan as he was defeat by the former world number seven in little under two hours.
The Spaniard stormed towards his first major last month, cruising to a four-set victory against Casper Ruud at Flushing Meadows and cementing his place as the hottest prospect in world tennis. In doing so, he became the youngest ever men’s world No. 1 at 19 years, 4 months and 6 days old, as well as the only teenager in the Open Era to top the rankings.
However, this latest defeat, while not hugely significant, cut short a staggering streak of 62 games in which he has won at least a set, with his Belgian opponent running out the eventual winner by a 7-5 6-3 scoreline.
The already six-time ATP title winner will be wondering ‘what if’ after last week’s Sofia Open finalist Holger Rune was in line for this first round match-up, but the Dane withdrew just before the tournament.
Tiens, tiens David Goffin qui prend le 1er set face à Carlos Alcaraz 👀
(🎥 @atptour) pic.twitter.com/KzBZf6xZ1C
— We Are Tennis France (@WeAreTennisFR) October 4, 2022
“It was a tough game. David played wonderfully,” Alcaraz said.
“Coming back to the competition [after losing the qualifying] is never easy.
“He has already played two games on this court, which is not the easiest to get used to. It is very slow and it has been complicated. He played very aggressively and I couldn’t handle the pressure he put on me. It’s something I have to learn from, I have to take note of the lessons from this match.”
After reaching the dizzying heights of the number one ranking, Alcaraz has said in the past he has struggled to deal with the pressure of being the one to beat after also dropping out of the Canadian Masters in a first-round loss to Tommy Paul.
“I felt the pressure to be number two in a tournament like this, No 4 in the world. It was the first time I felt that pressure – and I couldn’t handle it.”
Despite his worries, the claiming of the US Open crown more than dispelled any concerns of his handling of expectations, and while he will be ruing the 62-game record coming to an end, the boy from Murcia has a glittering future ahead of him.
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