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Carlos Alcaraz admitted Jaume Munar was an extremely tough opponent but he was glad that he was able to start his Rio de Janeiro campaign with a victory. Alcaraz, seeded at No. 7, made a slow start to the match but recovered to beat Munar 2-6 6-2 6-1.
It was the second meeting between Alcaraz and Munar. Last year, Alcaraz was beaten by Munar in Marbella. "Jaume was playing really, really well. He played more matches on clay in the last tournaments than me. I didn't play on clay since July last year, so it was really tough for me," Alcaraz said, per the ATP website.
"I knew it was going to be difficult. But I'm really happy with the way I turned around the match."
Alcaraz bounced back impressively
Actually it was Alcaraz that made a positive start to the match as he broke Munar in the second game for a 2-0 lead.
Alcaraz's game shut down after taking an early 2-0 lead as Munar claimed three breaks in a row and won six consecutive games to overturn the deficit and win the first set. After winning the first set, Munar had a great chance to start the second set with a break but he blew three consecutive break points in the opening game of the set.
Munar failed to convert a break point in the third game as well and paid the price for it as Alcaraz earned the first break of the set in the fourth game. Alcaraz claimed his second break of the set in the eighth game to seal the set and force a decider.
Munar had a chance to start the third set well but he missed out on two break points in the opening game. Munar never recovered from blowing those two break points as Alcaraz claimed back-to-back breaks to take a comfortable 5-0 lead in the third set.
Munar served out the sixth game to end Alcaraz's eight-game run but the seventh-seed routinely served out for the match in the following game. Alcaraz plays next either Federico Delbonis or Daniel Elahi Galan Riveros.