By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday August 27, 2024

A lot of fans inside Arthur Ashe were probably asking the question: Who is Li Tu? By the end of Tuesday’s first-round tussle with four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz they were likely wondering why he isn’t ranked higher than 186.



The Aussie qualifier gave Alcaraz a run for his money for two sets, then gave way as Alcaraz steamed past him for his 15th consecutive Grand Slam win, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Even Alcaraz himself came away impressed.

“I think I hit the ball well. I moved well,” he said, adding:

“A few things that I have to improve if I want to keep going in the draw, but obviously I have to give credit to him as well that he played really good tennis and today surprised me a little bit in the second set. After that, really I leave the court happy with my performance.”



This year in Flushing Meadows, 2022 US Open champion Alcaraz is bidding to become the third player in Open Era history to win Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same season, along with Rod Laver and Rafael Nadal.

Alcaraz finished with 50 winners and 30 unforced errors on the evening, but he managed only nine winners and 18 unforced errors in a second set that saw the 28-year-old Aussie make the most of his second Grand Slam main draw appearance, and the first at the US Open.



But Alcaraz didn’t let Li’s momentum carry over. He hit 30 winners against 10 unforced errors in the final two sets and never faced a break point as he polished off the qualifier in two hours and 42 minutes.



“After the first set that I made just two unforced errors,” Alcaraz said. “The second set I made 18. So that was the huge difference for me. He started to play better. That's obviously serving better, playing more aggressive, and not making a lot of mistakes that he did in the first set.”

Third-seeded Alcaraz will face Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp in the third round.