At the 2022 US Open, Carlos Alcaraz became the the youngest men’s Grand Slam champion since compatriot Rafael Nadal in 2005
World number one Carlos Alcaraz came back from a set down to defeat Britain’s Jack Draper in the opening round at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
The 19-year-old Spaniard won 3-6 6-2 7-5 in his first meeting with British number three Draper, 20, ranked 45th.
Alcaraz took his third match point on serve to edge an entertaining match.
He will play Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp or France’s Adrian Mannarino next.
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Draper capped an impressive first set by breaking the US Open champion’s serve for a second time, doing so to love, to move a set from victory.
However, Alcaraz responded with a double break early in the second set as the Spaniard opened a 4-0 lead on his way to levelling the contest.
Draper broke back to reach 4-4 in the decider, but Alcaraz was able to get over the line following his decisive break in the 11th game – despite also facing two break points in a tense finale.
Alcaraz is contesting his second event since winning the US Open title and becoming the top-ranked men’s player, having suffered a first-round loss to David Goffin in Astana earlier in October.
He will make his first appearance at the season-ending ATP finals in Turin, which begins on 13 November.
Meanwhile, Draper is set to contest the Next Gen ATP finals, which features the world’s top players aged 21 and under, in Milan from 8 November.
Andy Murray is in action against Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in Basel on Tuesday, while Norwegian second seed Casper Ruud meets Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka.
The Swiss Indoors, won a record 10 times by home player Roger Federer who announced his retirement in September, offers €2.1m (£1.8m) in prize money.