Carlos Alcaraz is a sensation: he beat Albert Ramos-Viñolas in a marathon match and qualified for the third round

It is a succession of impacts the race of Carlos Alcaraz, you just met 19 years. His explosive first half of 2022, a period in which winning four tournaments catapulted him to sixth place in the world ranking, put him in the batch of candidates in a Roland Garros who is still waking up. That optimistic forecast about the Murcian tennis player was on the verge of being prematurely truncated this Wednesday, should have raised a match point to reach the third wheel.

The stands once again vibrated with tennis and the dedication of the Spaniard, who after a battle of 4 hours and 35 minutes beat his compatriot and veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas (34 years old) for 6-1, 6-7 (7), 5-7, 7-6 (2) y 6-4. See he supposed that the meeting was not going to demand such a high demand from him; Coming back from what seemed like imminent defeat made his figure bigger. He showed that he too knows how to rebel against adversity. And he saved three aces for the winning game. A big closing.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match, we fought until the last point,” Alcaraz said, exhausted, before leaving the court. “I feel like I’m playing at home, it’s incredible, I appreciate the support of the people. From the beginning to the end the atmosphere was impressive, I don’t know if it would have been possible to win this match without your support”, added who is beginning to be among the favorites of the public, who admire his game, fighting ability and charisma.

The highlights of Alcaraz’s agonizing triumph

One of Alcaraz’s most striking statistics in the match is that he had 31 break chances (he ended up taking advantage of only 8). Also, he committed 74 unforced errors; big numbers for a match he may have prematurely doomed.

For the third round, on Friday he will have a special duel, against Sebastián Korda, the only one who this year could beat him on the ground. Alcaraz landed in Paris after having won in Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Barcelona and Madrid. He has 30 wins on the season and has won 18 of the last 19 games. Among his losers are Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic with whom he forms the trio that the specialists point out as the favorites to be crowned in the Parisian dust.

“I knew it depended on my chances if I saved match-point in the fourth set. And in the fifth he was relaxed, running for every ball. Having saved that match point changed everything, ”said Alcaraz, who usually expresses great confidence in his ability without falling into pedantry. In the Bois de Boulogne he already gathers crowds.

“Believe in myself, in my possibilities, all the time,” he insisted on the key to reversing the match. And he acknowledged: “After losing the third set, I thought I could lose. There were times when I saw myself inferior to Albert, moments when I saw that I had to change something, because if I didn’t I was going to lose it. But I also trusted myself, and I knew that at some point I was going to get my chances. This was a lesson, tennis is learning based on these matchesof these situations. This is a sign that I have to improve.”

The young man from Murcia also highlighted: “I consider it a great victory for knowing what happened in the game and being able to change it; to know that I did not play brilliantly, and anyway I was able to do things and then end up winning it. It’s one of the best wins for that. It was the longest match of my career, very hard”.

Nadal and Djokovic advance without giving up sets

Without giving up a set so far in the tournament, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, 13 times champion at Roland Garros, and the Serbian Novak Djokovic, number 1 in the world, qualified for the 3rd round of the Parisian contest.

In the night session, Nadal showed no mercy against Frenchman Corentin Moutet (139th), whom he defeated 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in a match in which the Mallorcan was very solid with his shots and quick of legs, remembering at times the Nadal of his best times. He only lowered his level a little in the third set, when he already had the match on track, which the 23-year-old Parisian took advantage of to extend the match against his idol. Thus, after two hours and 10 minutes, Rafa reached 300 wins in Grand Slam tournaments.

Nole, current champion in Paris and one of the great contenders for the title, beat Slovakian Alex Molcan (38th) 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4). Although Molcan was able to take the Serb to a tie break in the third set, Djokovic never suffered for victory, thanks to his 10 aces and 40 game winners.