Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz won his first match since clinching a dramatic Wimbledon final by rallying to beat David Goffin 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 in the Hopman Cup on Friday.
Alcaraz, however, could not keep Spain from losing the tie 2-1 to Belgium as he and Rebeka Masarova were thrashed 6-3, 6-1 by Goffin and Elise Mertens in the mixed doubles decider.
The Spaniard, who beat 23-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in a five-set Wimbledon thriller Sunday, had three aces in the singles match as each player dropped serve twice.
“It wasn’t easy. It was a tough match, but I’m really happy to come back to clay courts,” Alcaraz said. “It’s a good surface for me, and I really enjoyed playing tennis here.”
The exhibition event is at the Nice Lawn Club in southern France, with mixed teams representing their nations in singles and doubles. Alcaraz’s win had leveled the tie after Mertens beat Masarova 7-6 (3), 2-6, 10-5 to put Belgium 1-0 ahead.
Alcaraz is back in action Saturday when he takes on No. 15-ranked Borna Coric of Croatia in singles then teams in doubles against Coric and Donna Vekic.
In the day’s other tie, Switzerland scored a 2-1 victory over France after the duo of Celine Naef and Leandro Riedi beat Alize Cornet and Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5 in mixed doubles to book their place in Sunday’s final.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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