Carlos Alcaraz He said goodbye this Friday to the Australian Open in the third round after taking a ‘top10’ like Matteo Berrettini to the limit 6-2, 7-6(3), 4-6, 2-6 and 7-6(5), in 4 hours and 10 minutes.
The Murcian, 18 years and 270 days old, sold dearly his defeat against a rival who has one of the best serves on the circuit and who has a hammer on his forehand.
Berrettini took over the match after four close first games. The Italian came to chain seven games to go ahead with a set and a ‘break’ advantage.
Alcaraz, the moment he found calm, returned to the scene with his first break. Force the tiebreaker sleeve, but could not match the score.
Matteo had victory in his hands against an opponent who had defeated him in the only precedent between the two in the quarterfinals in Vienna.
The tennis player from El Palmar, a born winner, did not collapse before the adversity of the scoreboard. Little by little, Berrettini was eating ground and finding his setback, the hole of the 25-year-old Roman, who also got entangled with the sun and shadow.
The ‘fair play’ of the Murcian
Tie to two sets. In the second game of the tiebreaker round, with 1-0 for the transalpine and 30-15 for Alcaraz, Matteo twisted his ankle and fell to the ground. The confrontation was stopped so that the physiotherapist could enter. Follow the action.
The young Spaniard did not hesitate to cross the net, pick up his racket and inquire about his physical condition. Hostilities continued normally.
Berrettini had match point at 6-5 and hit a forehand into the net. He did not fail later in the decisive ‘tie break’ that ended with a double fault. “You have to recognize what Carlos is doing because I, at his age, did not have a single ATP pointsaid the winner.
the transalpine, which equals last year’s fourth round in the tournament, will face the winner of the match between Pablo Carreo (19) and Sebastian Korda.
Alcaraz stayed just five points from becoming the youngest in the second round since Rafael Nadal in the 2005 edition at 18 years and 241 days. He won the winning shots statistics, 51 to 39, against a renowned striker.
Calendar
Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil returns from Melbourne improving on the result of the last edition of the Open and will now have three weeks off before returning to the clay court circuit of the Open 500 in Rio de Janeiro.
Immediately after will be Acapulco and the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells and Miami. In between, the qualifying series for the final phase of the Davis Cup against Rumana at the Puente Romano Tennis Club in Marbella.
