US OPEN
NEW YORK, Aug 28: Carlos Alcaraz’s accidental buzz cut is moving on at the U.S. Open thanks to an easy-as-can-be victory in the second round Wednesday night, a year after he lost at that stage in the Grand Slam tournament.
The No. 2-seeded Alcaraz – who shaved his head after his brother messed up his hair – needed a little more than 1 1/2 hours to beat 65th-ranked Mattia Bellucci of Italy 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Alcaraz never faced a break point and accumulated a 32-11 advantage in winners. All in all, a far cry from what happened in the second round at Flushing Meadows in 2024.Alcaraz went into that one on a 15-match unbeaten run at major tournaments – thanks in large part to titles at the French Open and Wimbledon – but came out on the wrong end of a straight-set defeat against Botic van de Zandschulp.
There never was a chance of that sort of stunner against Bellucci.“Yeah, I played great, to be honest,” said Alcaraz, who earned the first of his five Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open in 2022. “Today wasn’t his day. I tried to make the most of his mistakes.” He and No. 1 Jannik Sinner have combined to win the past seven major trophies.
INDIAN CHALLENGE
Yuki Bhambri, India’s number one doubles player, and veteran Rohan Bopanna will lead the country’s challenge at the US Open, season’s last Grand Slam.
Bhambri has teamed up with New Zealand’s Michael Venus, while Bopanna, India’s number two doubles player, has joined forces with Monaco’s Romain Arneodo.
Bhambri and Venus, seeded 14th, are facing solid singles players in Marcos Giron and Learner Tien, who have joined as a team.Bopanna and Arneodo open their campaign against the American team of Robert Cash and JJ Tracy.
Arjun Kadhe has partnered with Ecuador’s Diego Hidalgo and they are up against second seeded team of Marcelo Arevalo from El Salvador and Mate Pavic from Croatia.
There will be an Indian team of N Sriram Balaj and Rithvik Bollipalli, who face the American-Dutch combine of Vasil Kirkov and Bart Stevens. (PTI)
