Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz battled through against local hero Botic van de Zandschulp at the Rotterdam Open on Tuesday, his first match since quarter-final heartbreak at the Australian Open.

The top seed had to dig deep to overcome the wildcard ranked 81 places below him, eventually coming through the first-round clash 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-1 in nearly three hours.

"It was a really difficult match. I had to get through some really difficult moments," Alcaraz said.