Trending 
Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz secured a hard-fought straight-sets victory over Karen Khachanov on Tuesday, winning his opening-round match at the Vienna Open 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
The world number three, who added the Austrian ATP 500 event to his schedule at short notice, recovered from a break down in the first set before closing out the second in a tight tie-break.
Returning to action following a wrist injury that sidelined him from mid-April to late August, Alcaraz expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating, “I really enjoyed it, even though I had to run, had to fight, and had to sweat a lot. We both played great shots and great points. I would say it was a great match to watch, and I’m really happy about it.”
Read More : Fourth-Tier Fleetwood Stun Arsenal in League Cup
In another thriller, Alexander Zverev kept his hopes of capturing the year-end world number one ranking alive by surviving four match points to defeat Martin Landaluce 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (13/11).
The marathon match lasted three hours and five minutes, with Zverev staving off elimination during a tense final-set tie-break before forcing an error on his fifth match point.
Reflecting on the intense physical battle, Zverev acknowledged he was “(pushed) to the absolute limit,” adding, “Credit to (Landaluce), he played an amazing match.”
If Zverev wins his next match against either Tallon Griekspoor or Brandon Nakashima to reach the quarter-finals, he will displace the injured Jannik Sinner from the top spot in next Monday’s ATP rankings.
Alcaraz advances to face either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Jurij Rodionov in the round of 16.
