Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz battled through against local hero Botic van de Zandschulp at the Rotterdam Open on Tuesday, his first match since quarterfinal heartbreak at the Australian Open.
The top seed had to dig deep to overcome the wildcard ranked 81 places below him, eventually coming through the first-round clash 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-1 in nearly three hours.
"It was a really difficult match. I had to get through some really difficult moments," Alcaraz said.
"I started the match a little bit nervous, making some mistakes. I let him dominate the match, play his style," added the Spaniard.
Van de Zandschulp stunned Alcaraz with a straight-sets win at last year's US Open and the higher-ranked man initially struggled to find his range on the slow Rotterdam indoor surface.
A series of uncharacteristic errors handed the Dutchman several breaks of serve and Alcaraz became increasingly frustrated, chuntering at his box and the chair umpire.
Van de Zandschulp had a set point at 5-4 but contrived to serve a double fault. Alcaraz sniffed an opportunity and he brought the match back on level terms at 5-5 with a powerful forehand drive.
The set felt destined for a tie-break and sure enough, the pair were soon locked at 6-6. Alcaraz saved his best form for the key moment, unleashing several winners to take the tie-break 7-3.
The second set was also hard-fought, going on serve until the sixth game when an errant Alcaraz backhand gifted Van de Zandschulp a break and a 4-2 lead.
The local favourite served for the set at 5-3 and levelled the match at one set all as Alcaraz hit yet another forehand wide to the delight of the partisan home crowd.
'UP AND DOWN'
Two double faults and a wild forehand swung the match back in the Spaniard's favour in the decisive set as he broke at the first time of asking, racing into a 3-0 lead.
The break seemed to knock the energy out of Van de Zandschulp and he lost his serve again to give the top seed the chance to serve out at 5-1.
Alcaraz sealed the match with a delicate forehand drop shot volley, the relief palpable on his face as he shook hands at the net.
"A bit up and down on my side. I have to work to see where my weaknesses were in this match to be better in the next round," he said.
Alcaraz is seeking to become the first Spaniard to triumph in Rotterdam but there are several obstacles potentially in his path, notably former champion here Daniil Medvedev.
The Russian No 2 seed came through a gruelling encounter with veteran three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka on Monday.
Also through into the second round Tuesday was Australia's Alex de Minaur, who has happy memories of Rotterdam, finishing runner-up last year to world No 1 Jannik Sinner.
De Minaur overpowered Belgium's David Goffin 6-2, 6-4 to book a second-round clash with Czech teenager Jakub Mensik.
Another former Rotterdam champion through with little difficulty was Russia's Andrey Rublev, who beat China's Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-4.