Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz made it to the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in Vienna by beating Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4 in more than two hours of play. Basilashvilli or Berrettini will be measured on Friday.
17 days after that precious stake that they disputed in the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells, they were seeing each other again. The Spanish defeated Daniel Evans in the first round, while the British player played the tournament in Antwerp last week and in the first round of this scenario, he took a duel against the Polish Hurkacz.
Great fight
The duel was going to star emotion from the beginning. They showed the enthusiasm with which they had attended this first match on the Austrian center court in the evening. Much disputed from the back of the field and without anyone wanting to get off the donkey. The first break came after more than 15 minutes. It was Alcaraz who was ahead on the scoreboard but there was no option for the server to have a quiet game since on the other side was a world-class receiver.
The details were that at points that could be transitional, the Scotsman made mistakes and Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil was much firmer. Another key point was when he was 3-2 and taking the game forward after five break points, confirming his turn to serve, although it was again a very competitive game. Murray had two break points that he could not take advantage of and Alcaraz with a 4-2 breathed relief. The momentary fight ended in terms of intensity and with 3-5, everything went very fast for Carlos to reach 0-40. The former World No.1 saved two set balls but on the third, the Spanish could take the first set after 65 minutes. One of the highlights from the world No.42 was the forehand that, thanks to this acceleration, managed to get several points forward.
Alcaraz comes back to win
The Briton was able to place himself in the event ahead for the first time. He made the break being more aggressive and avoiding that baseline game with an increase in errors by the Spanish player. Still, Murray’s services were highly competitive. He took two games forward, having to take break balls but in the third, the Spaniard made it 4-4. With the first blow Alcaraz was firmer and also chose to want to play a more aggressive game. From there also came more unforced errors than in the last set.
He knew how to move forward with his game and immediately afterwards he returned to stalk the first blow of Murray. The Brit was not looking able to get ahead when he put the ball in play and Alcaraz deep into it, made two formidable winners with his forehand. It made Andy very tired and he made no mistakes at the time. At the first match point, Carlos Alcaraz made it to the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in Vienna by beating Andy Murray on center court.
