VILLENA, April 3, 2019

15-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz Garfia couldn’t back up his first-round win against Jannik Sinner of Italy at the €46,600 Ferrero Challenger Open on Tuesday, falling to former World No. 26 Lukas Rosol from the Czech Republic on Wednesday afternoon.

Alcaraz Garfia, who became the fourth-youngest player to win an ATP Challenger match in the past 20 years, played in front of his home crowd at the JC Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy in Villena. The teenager from Murcia was a break up in the final set but Rosol managed to come back, securing a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory in one hour and 46 minutes.

“I like to play at home, both in Murcia and here. Playing in front of your people, who cheer for you and who try to lift you when you go down, is great. That gives me a lot of confidence, knowing that I have the people behind me,” Alcaraz Garfia, protégé of former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, was quoted on the ATP Tour website following his win in the opening round.

Up next for the youngster will be another tournament on home soil, as he will compete in the inaugural Murcia Open ATP Challenger clay-court event the upcoming week.