Carlos Alcaraz makes long-awaited return to action in Argentina

The US Open champion, who was forced to miss the Australian Open through injury, battled past Serbian Laslo Djere 6-2 4-6 6-2.

The 19-year-old Spaniard has not played since November and recently lost top spot in the rankings to veteran Novak Djokovic.

"It's a great feeling to win again," Alcaraz said post-match. "It's been a long time for me with no competition, with no matches, just recovering. Finally I got my first win of 2023."

"I'm really happy [in Buenos Aires]," he added. "I didn't expect such a great crowd, a great atmosphere behind me. So I just can say thank you to all the fans here in Buenos Aires for the warm welcome that I received in this first match and I hope to keep going with this energy."

Alcaraz will next face another Serbian in Dusan Lajovic, who suffered a straight-sets loss in the pair’s only previous meeting in the second round of last year's Australian Open.

Elsewhere, British number one Cameron Norrie dug deep to claim victory over home wildcard Facundo Diaz Acosta.

The world number 12 needed to fight back from behind to see off the local favourite 4-6 7-5 7-6(6) in Buenos Aires.

Norrie, the second seed, will now face another Argentinian in Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the quarter-finals.

In Rotterdam, world number five Andrey Rublev lost 6-4 6-4 to Australian Alex De Minaur at the ABN AMRO Open.