exercises Carlos Alcaraz number 5 and qualifies for the semifinals of the ATP 250 tournament in Umag with another serious match against Facundo Bagnis (6-0 and 6-4). He will play the final on Saturday, July 30, against the Italian Giulio Zeppieri, executioner of Roberto Carballés.
In just 27 minutes, an impeccable 6-0, a perfect execution of very deep returns, tight forehands and even setbacks that easily found the lines without going over them. Yes, they surpassed the Argentine, 120 in the world, disarrayed from the beginning and without the possibility of finding the way back to the strategy, if there was one, because Alcaraz was always there to destroy it.
Alcaraz played well in that first round, serious, without fanfare but forcefully. He helped in everything else Bagnis, without morals or success. The Spaniard neither suffered nor had to work hard, higher levels would come, it was enough for him to do well what he knows and squeeze the patience of the rival until the error of others arrived. And every time there was less patience in the Argentine. It was not his day.
Bagnis, 32, and Alcaraz, 19, had never faced each other. But the former will not forget this first date. The Spanish was a torment in the first set, his legs were agile to attack from all points and showing his head so as not to get lost. It is the danger of these meetings in which there is so much superiority in one of the sides, to accommodate and lower attention. But this Alcaraz wants to revalidate the crown in Umag, the origin of his record, in 2021, when he was half of what he is now.
A five of the world to which the left ones, the reverses and the inverted rights came out. A torture for the rival, who smiled with pure resignation and relief when he added the first game to his scoreboard, celebrated by the stands, in the third turn of the second set. There would not be two ‘roscos’, and he was encouraged with a second game, and with a third, and with a fourth. Even so, the baton did not stop being in the right hand of Alcaraz, who also knew how to raise the level and pause when the match required it to prevent the Argentine from getting too excited. With serve and volley or with runs to reach everything. No slip-ups or disconnections. Just a little scare, with the Argentine’s first break opportunity in the entire match, at 5-4 and the Spaniard’s serve that he solved with a classy parallel inverted forehand.
Gain confidence and play Alcaraz in this tournament in Croatia that he is looking forward to. Here he was champion in 2021 being the 73 in the world, here he plays the semifinal against the Italian Giulio Zeppieri, 168 in the world, as the five.
