Alcaraz into round two at US Open after Baez quits with cramp in bruising encounter

If you want to know what it’s like to face Carlos Alcaraz on hard courts in the heat of the day, just ask poor Sebastian Baez.

The Argentinian, ranked 37, held his own in the first two sets but after losing both, 7-5, 7-5, he retired at 2-0 down in the third set with cramp in his left leg, which left him almost unable to move.

It was a sad end to a brutal match but one which again outlines Alcaraz’s credentials to win his first major title.

The 19-year-old fourth seed, the champion in Miami and Madrid this year, played some stunning stuff from the baseline on a sultry New York afternoon, saving one break point with a tweener and when Baez broke to lead 4-3 in the second, fought back immediately to shut the door in his face.

This time last year, when he reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final, Alcaraz was ranked 54; now he’s No 4 and he has an outside chance to leave New York as the world No 1.

“I remember last year,” he said. “It was one of the best moments of my career and my life. For this match to end like this is not what anyone wants. Sebastian is a great player, he fought to the end.

Alcaraz: “It was tough to keep the level”

The second set was high on physicality. The pair played out a mammoth 103 points and Alcaraz needed all of his strength to pinch it and double his lead.

“It was very, very tough,” he said. “The second set was really, really tough for me, to stay at the level, physically and mentally but the energy I received from the crowd here on Arthur Ashe helped me.”

Alcaraz will now face Argentinian Federico Coria in the second round.

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US Open, New York City (Grand Slam), other first-round results so far

• Diego Schwartzman vs. Jack Sock
• Rinky Hijikata vs. Rafael Nadal
• Marcos Giron vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Fabio Fognini vs. Aslan Karatsev
• Jason Kubler vs. Mikael Ymer
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Chun-Hsin Tseng
• Jaume Munar vs. Roberto Carballes Baena
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Marc-Andrea Huesler
• Jenson Brooksby vs. Dusan Lajovic
• Norbert Gombos vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Jannik Sinner
• David Goffin vs. Lorenzo Musetti
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Gijs Brouwer
• Sam Querrey vs. Ilya Ivashka
• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Oscar Otte
• Borna Coric vs. Enzo Couacaud
• Marin Čilić vs. Maximilian Marterer
• Pedro Martinez vs. Christopher Eubanks
• Tallon Griekspoor vs. Federico Coria: tuesday
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Learner Tien: tuesday
• Laslo Djere vs. Andrey Rublev: tuesday
• Peter Gojowczyk vs. Holger Rune: tuesday
• Fernando Verdasco vs. SoonWoo Kwon: tuesday
• Jiri Vesely vs. Daniel Evans: tuesday
• James Duckworth vs. Christopher O’Connell: tuesday
• John Isner beat Federico Delbonis (Q): 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
• Grigor Dimitrov (17) beat Steve Johnson: 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
• Richard Gasquet beat Taro Daniel: 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-2
• João Sousa beat Mackenzie McDonald: 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Cameron Norrie (7) beat Benoit Paire: 6-0, 7-6 (1), 6-0
• Brandon Nakashima beat Pavel Kotov (Q): 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2
• Nick Kyrgios (23) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis: 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Benjamin Bonzi beat Ugo Humbert (WC): 7-6 (1), 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 6-2
• Daniel Elahi Galan (Q) beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (4): 6-0, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
• Pedro Cachin beat Aljaz Bedene: 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-6 (6)
• Brandon Holt (Q) beat Taylor Fritz (10): 6-7 (3), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4
• Jack Draper beat Emil Ruusuvuori: 6-4, 6-3, 6-3
• Jordan Thompson beat Lorenzo Sonego: 2-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
• Alexander Bublik beat Hugo Gaston: 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Botic van de Zandschulp (21) beat Tomas Machac (Q): 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
• Thiago Monteiro beat Alex Molcan: 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
• Cristian Garin beat Jiri Lehecka: 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-1
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (6) beat Alexander Ritschard (Q): 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
• Alex De Minaur (18) beat Filip Krajinovic: 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
• Pablo Carreno Busta (12) beat Dominic Thiem (WC): 7-5, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
• Karen Khachanov (27) beat Denis Kudla: 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2
• Corentin Moutet (LL) beat Stan Wawrinka: 6-4, 7-6 (7) ret.
• Nuno Borges (Q) beat Ben Shelton (WC): 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 6-3
• Yibing Wu (Q) beat Nikoloz Basilashvili (31): 6-3, 6-4, 6-0
• Hugo Grenier (LL) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
• Casper Ruud (5) beat Kyle Edmund: 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
• Matteo Berrettini (13) beat Nicolas Jarry (Q): 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
• Marton Fucsovics beat Maxime Cressy (30): 6-7 (4), 7-5, 5-1 ret.
• Daniil Medvedev (1) beat Stefan Kozlov: 6-2, 6-4, 6-0
• Andy Murray beat Francisco Cerundolo (24): 7-5, 6-3, 6-3
• Tim van Rijthoven beat Zhizhen Zhang (Q): 3-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (9), 6-1, 6-4
• Sebastian Korda beat Facundo Bagnis (Q): 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-1
• Tommy Paul (29) beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles: 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0, 7-5
• Emilio Nava (WC) beat John Millman: 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-1
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Yoshihito Nishioka: 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
• J.J. Wolf (WC) beat Roberto Bautista Agut (16): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Alejandro Tabilo beat Kamil Majchrzak: 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1
• Arthur Rinderknech beat Quentin Halys: 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2

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