ASTANA/STARNBERG, October 4, 2022
David Goffin has earned his biggest win of the season by knocking out World No. 1 Carlos Alczaraz of Spain in the first round of the Astana Open. The Belgian lucky loser, who lost in the final round of the qualifying to Italy’s Luca Nardi, won 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday afternoon.
The 19-year-old Spaniard, top seed this week in Kazakhstan, was competing in his first ATP Tour event since becoming the youngest No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings. Goffin broke serve five times and outpointed his rival 77-60 in one hour and 46 minutes.
The moment Goffin recorded a 3rd career win over a World No. 1! 🙌@David__Goffin #AstanaOpen pic.twitter.com/dMC8GhCVsC
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 4, 2022
“I always believe that I have the level to cause some trouble against those guys,” Goffin said. “Of course it has not been my best period, I haven’t been playing really well in the past few tournaments, but I always believe and practise and you never know.
“When you play against the World No. 1 on a big stage, big crowd, the fire inside gives you so much power to play your best tennis because you don’t have any choice. You have to fight and give your best and that was the case today. I always believed I had it and I am happy you can still it there.”
The World No. 66 will next take on French veteran Adrian Mannarino, who rallied past Swiss wild card entry Stan Wawrinka 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Monday.
An incredible run comes to an end! 👏@carlosalcaraz pic.twitter.com/bTwwPp5juJ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 4, 2022
No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev booked his spot in the second round following a 6-3, 6-1 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain. The World No. 4 from Russia struck eight aces and won 71 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after one hour and 20 minutes.
Medvedev will next play either in-form Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler, champion of last week’s Sofia Open in Bulgaria, or Emil Ruusuvuori from Finland.
In other action, third-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated local wild card entry Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 23 minutes.
“It was a great match from my side,” Tsitsipas said. “I started off with a great few games in the match, keeping my consistency and being very accurate at certain points. Overall it was a great performance and I am happy with the way things went and I am looking forward to the next one.”
Up next for Tsitsipas will be Luca Nardi.
