Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain beat 31st seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 7-6 6-3 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Monday. The former World No. 1 won the match within a couple of hours to set up a clash with Jack Draper of Great Britain in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old Spaniard is contending for his third Masters 1000 title and his chances of winning the title are becoming brighter with each match. We will now take a look at how the match progressed:
Carlos Alcaraz Overcomes Tallon Griekspoor in Indian Wells
Griekspoor went toe to toe with Carlos Alcaraz in the first set:
The two players had a close fight in the first set, with Griekspoor the one with more attacking intent. The Dutchman went into the net frequently, as he did not have enough firepower to hit through Carlos Alcaraz in the slow conditions.
However, the Spaniard defended well from the baseline, but the Dutchman managed hit a few winners with volleys and overhead smashes. Alcaraz also opted for inside-out forehands by going around his backhand often. The first set went into a tie-break and Griekspoor failed to put a smash past Alcaraz before the latter managed to pass him off his backhand to win the very first point.
That set the tone for the tie-break, as Alcaraz managed to hold on to the lead. It was always going to be difficult for the Dutchman to come back from behind.
Alcaraz became more aggressive in the second set to win it:
Carlos Alcaraz was on the front foot more frequently in the second set and often venture forward to take the attack into his opponent. On one occasion, the Spaniard’s forehand topspin took his opponent by surprise, and he went on to win the first three games of the second set. The Spanird also played the backhand slice frequently to take pace off the ball and then set up his next shot with more venom.
Griekspoor managed to do some recovery by winning three games in the set, but could never break the Spaniard. The quality of the serve of the two players was unflattering throughout the match, as Alcaraz failed hit a single ace in the match, with Griekspoor managing only one.
However, Alcaraz won 76% points on his second serve, while the Dutchman managed only 58% and that proved to be the difference between the two.
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
