Top seed Carlos Alcaraz begins his Rio Open campaign against Mateus Alves in the round of 32 on Tuesday.
The 2022 US Open champion made a comeback to the court at the Argentina Open after recovering from a leg muscle tear that forced him to miss the Australian Open in January.
The comeback was special as Alcaraz went on to win his seventh career title after beating Cameron Norrie in the final. The Spaniard who recently lost the No. 1 ranking to Novak Djokovic, won the match 6-3, 7-5. Alcaraz lost only one set throughout the competition and that came in his first match against Laslo Djere. The defending champion is expected to have another fine campaign in the Rio Open. Norrie is also playing in the tournament and there’s a good possibility of seeing the two players face each other once again.
The Brazilian youngster has only played in Challenger events this year. He will be making his ATP debut against one of the best players on the circuit.
Alves has managed to win just one match so far this year. The win came in a qualifying round of a Challenger event in Argentina. The 22-year-old will have his task cut out against an in-form Alcaraz. Alves should look to play freely and enjoy himself out on the court without thinking too much about the consequences. He will surely gain a lot of experience while playing against the current world No. 2.
This will be the first meeting between Carlos Alcaraz and Mateus Alves. Therefore, the head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0.
Prediction: Carlos Alcaraz to win in straight sets.
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