Carlos Alcaraz neutered the booming serve of France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Friday to move into the China Open second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win.
The Spanish favourite broke in the opening game of each set to beat the fellow 21-year-old.
“The plan was just to put as many returns in as I can,” Alcaraz said.
“Honestly it wasn’t easy. He was serving 230 or 240 kilometres per hour almost every serve. Second set, 210 or 215. So, it wasn’t easy to play against him. He’s a really powerful player. Big serve, big shots from the baseline. So I had to be really focused.”
Other big seeds such as Daniil Medvedev, Lorenzo Musetti, Karen Khachanov also eased through.
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Carlos Alcaraz Fred Lee/Getty Images Carlos Alcaraz did not appreciate being rushed during his opening match at the China O
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