Carlos Alcaraz wins in injury return; Sabalenka, Gauff advance

ROME — Carlos Alcaraz returned from a brief injury layoff and didn’t appear to have any issues during a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic at the Italian Open on Friday.

The third-ranked Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open last month due to an upper right leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final. He also had a left leg injury.

Against Lajovic, Alcaraz wore a long black brace that covered the upper portion of his right leg and stretched down to just below his knee.

“The body felt great,” Alcaraz said. “I just moved well. I made a few good sprints today without any pain. … It was a test for me, so I think I passed the test today.”

“It was a great performance, great level, which was surprising for me a little bit, but just really happy for that,” Alcaraz added.

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Alcaraz won the opening four games but dropped his serve when he tried to close out the first set at 5-2. The Spaniard broke back in the next game to win the set, showing off his speed on the clay court at the Foro Italico when he ran down a drop shot and produced a backhand winner.

He also went ahead early in the second set and finished out the win. He had the same number of winners as unforced errors, with 24 each.

Alcaraz, who won the Monte Carlo Masters in April, improved to 10-1 on clay this season. He will next face Laslo Djere, who defeated 31st-seeded Alex Michelsen 6-0, 6-3.

A four-time Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz is preparing to defend his title at the French Open, which starts May 25.

The Rome tournament also marks the return of top-ranked Jannik Sinner from a three-month doping ban. Sinner opens against 99th-ranked Mariano Navone on Saturday.

Sinner and Alcaraz are in opposite sides of the draw.

In other men’s results Friday, world No. 2 Alexander Zverev stormed into the third round with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 win over Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli.

Qualifier Vilius Gaubas stands between Zverev, the reigning champion in Rome, and a spot in the fourth round.

Jack Draper, the fifth seed, also earned a comfortable win, overcoming home hopeful Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-4. Draper converted 80% of his break point opportunities while fending off all seven he faced to secure a third-round meeting with qualifier Vit Kopriva.

Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti and Francesco Passaro gave the Rome crowd something to cheer about, however, with Musetti breezing past Otto Virtanen 6-3, 6-2, while wild card Passaro pulled off the upset of the day, downing 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 6-3.

No. 9 seed Holger Rune outlasted Francisco Comesana 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 over three-hours to secure his spot in the third round, while 13-seed Arthur Fils eased past Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-2.

In the women’s tournament, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka opened with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anastasia Potapova, then in a night match, Coco Gauff needed to rally for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over 156th-ranked Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko.

The 18-year-old Mboko, a semifinalist at the Wimbledon and US Open junior tournaments in 2022, gave Gauff trouble at the start with her solid baseline game.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.