Carlos Alcaraz wins at Rio Open, eyes race with Djokovic for No.1

Topseeded Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the second round of the Rio Open with his mind already set for a yearlong contest with Novak Djokovic for the No 1 rankingThe 19yearold defending champion closed out the last two games of a match suspended the previous day because of rain to complete a 64 64 win over Mateus Alves on WednesdayAlcaraz will next play Fabio Fognini who beat Tomas Barrios Vera 62 63 at the clay court tournamentThe Spanish teenager was sidelined for four months with a leg muscle injury and returned to the tour last week at the Argentina Open where he dropped only one set en route to his first title since his Grand Slam breakthrough at the US Open last yearAlcaraz who in 2021 became the first teenage yearend No 1 in ATP history is currently second in the rankings He said he doesnt feel pressure to topple Djokovic from the top but he has set that as a key goal for 2023Truth is a beautiful year awaits with beautiful tournaments It is true there will be a little pressure to defend important titles I will have to play at a good level but as I always say I play every match thinking I have to enjoy it much beyond the results Alcaraz told a news conferenceI have to try to win more Grand Slam titles reclaim the No 1 position Thats what I am hoping for this yearThe hottest upandcoming player on tour has titles to defend in Rio Miami Barcelona Madrid and in the last major of the season in New YorkAlcaraz struggled at times against Alves a Brazilian ranked No 556 He needed almost two hours of play to win saying hed only seen videos of his 22yearold rival before their matchAlso readArgentina Open Carlos Alcaraz cruises into semisIt is not easy to stop after an entire match and have to start it again the next day Alcaraz saidI feel I am doing well after four months injured I had a very good week in Argentina and I am coming here with a lot of confidenceAlso on Wednesday secondseeded Cameron Norrie advanced with a 75 75 win over Thiago Monteiro in 2 12 hours He will face Hugo Dellien in the next round The Bolivian beat Alex Molcan 16 62 62Norrie had the advantage of playing his entire round of 16 match on Wednesday while others were stopped by rainLast years runnerup Diego Schwartzman was knocked out by Serbian player Dusan Lajovic 61 64 Lajovic will next face compatriot Laslo Djere in the round of 16Fourthseeded Francisco Cerundolo beat Roberto Carballes Baena 46 63 63 and will meet Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the next roundHome crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci had the last match of professional career against Sebastian Baez who won 63 62 The 35yearold Belluccis best ranking position was No 21 in 2010Baez next rival will be Juan Pablo VarillasThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever