New outfit, same Carlitos: Alcaraz cruises in Barcelona, joins Casper Ruud with winning start

Home favorite Carlos Alcaraz rolled through his title defense opener at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell Tuesday, dismissing Nuno Borges, 6-3, 6-1.

Alcaraz broke the Portuguese at love in the third game after Borges double-faulted and secured a second break by turning defense into offense with a winning forehand up the line. The world No. 2’s lone hiccup came when he was unable to serve out the first set, but he immediately broke back to clinch it. The 19-year-old then picked up the pace in his bright yellow-inspired kit, showcasing his variety of shot-making to reach the finish line at the 63-minute mark.

“New outfit means that Carlitos is here. Very colorful,” the smiling top seed told the World Feed. “I feel great, moving well, hitting the ball really well. I got a lot of confidence playing here in Barcelona.”

Though Alcaraz missed the first stop of the European clay-court swing in Monte Carlo last week to recover from “physical discomfort”, he previously won his first eight matches of the year on red dirt during February’s Golden Swing—triumphing in Buenos Aires over Cameron Norrie before dropping a taxing final rematch to the left-handed Brit at Rio de Janeiro. In 2022, the El Palmar, Murcia native shined in a big way on home soil, tasting victory at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899 and following it up by raising the trophy at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Third seed Casper Ruud also won his opener, posting a 6-2, 7-6 (1) victory over Ben Shelton in earlier second-round action.

At last year’s Western & Southern Open, the reigning NCAA men’s champion did not face a break point in ousting the Norwegian in a straight-set stunner. But capitalizing on the surface swap, Ruud today took 43 percent of his return points, yielding three breaks. The two-time major finalist put the disappointment of not serving out the match at 5-4, running away with their eventual tie-break.

“Obviously I wanted my revenge. I felt like I had a little bit more time here to build the points on clay, which is normal,” said Ruud.

“I played a perfect first set. He was doing maybe a little too many mistakes. But all throughout the second set, it was tough games, tough rallies. He’s a very athletic player.”

Fifth seed Frances Tiafoe was less fortunate. The recent Houston titlist was knocked out by Emil Ruusuvuori, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4.