Alcaraz was on the verge of an early upset before battling back to defeat his Finnish opponent 2-6 6-4 6-2.
At the Madrid Open, Carlos Alcaraz clenched both fists and yelled, “Vamos! Vamos! Vamos!”
When faced with adversity, his battle cry of “Let’s go!” in Spanish provides motivation for Alcaraz and pumps up his admirers. It worked this time.
In his first encounter on Friday, the reigning champion withstood a tougher-than-expected test against 41st-ranked Emil Ruusuvuori.
Alcaraz was on the verge of an early upset before battling back to defeat his Finnish opponent 2-6 6-4 6-2.
The Spanish youngster, who turns 20 next week, saved five break chances in a crucial game to keep the second set tied at 3-3. In the next game, Alcaraz got his first break of the match, putting him ahead in the second round.
Alcaraz joked with the partisan crowd about the close call.
Alcaraz stated, “It wasn’t only a scare for them; it was (a scare) for me, too.
“I’m simply glad I was able to pull off this really challenging victory. People might believe that I should have an easy time winning or stay out of trouble during matches, but each one is its own world. The contest was quite challenging. Simply maintain your composure, take each bad situation as it comes, and work to make things better.
On the women’s side, No. 1 Iga Swiatek defeated Austria’s Julia Grabher 6-3, 6-2 after converting three of her five break chances.
Alcaraz, ranked No. 2, arrived after successfully defending his Barcelona Open championship the previous weekend and had the opportunity to go closer to retaking the top place from Novak Djokovic, who is out injured like Rafael Nadal.
Miami’s hard court saw Ruusuvuori defeat Alcaraz in 2021. A year after winning the Florida event, Alcaraz went on to win in Barcelona and Madrid as part of a historic season that concluded with his U.S. Open title.
But nobody anticipated Ruusuvuori would put Alcaraz through such a difficult test on the Madrid clay.
Ruusuvuori’s backhand into the net and subsequent loss of his opening service game of the third set ended any chance of a tie. Alcaraz added more of it to strengthen his position.
Alcaraz defeated Gregoire Barrere with a score of 6-0 5-7 6-3 and will now take on Grigor Dimitrov.
Additionally, Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi defeated third-seeded Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-4.
Fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev beat Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4 to advance, increasing his record on clay for the year to 9-1.
Alcaraz defeated Gregoire Barrere with a score of 6-0 5-7 6-3 and will now take on Grigor Dimitrov.
Third-seeded Jessica Pegula, who advanced to the final of the women’s competition in Madrid last year, defeated Polish qualifier Magdalena Frech 7-6 (5) 6-3.
