alcaraz_carlos1280

MADRID — After two comfortable victories, Carlos Alcaraz was put to the test at the Madrid Open.

The two-time defending champion who is coming off a right forearm injury needed nearly three hours to defeat 24th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) in a rematch of last year’s final in the Spanish capital.

The second-seeded Alcaraz squandered four match points while serving for the victory at 5-3, but converted on his first opportunity to seal the victory in the deciding tiebreaker at the Caja Magica center court.