Carlos Alcaraz he suddenly shook off the doubts with which he had started his career in Hamburg and sealed his qualification for the semi-finals after an almost flawless match against the Russian Karen Khachanovwho was barely able to stay on the track in the face of the solvency, power and effectiveness exercise of the world number six and the first seed in the German tournament.
Khachanov was supposed to be an even more complicated bone than Kuhn and Krajinovic, Alcaraz’s first rivals in Germany, but in practice the Russian was the easiest hurdle to overcome, a toy in the hands of the Spanish. There was hardly any battle in the first set, only a ruthless monologue from Alcaraz, merciless with a rival who was too bad, exposed to blows from the back of the court that the Murcian dealt him and without the desire to run to the recurring drops that he made . So frustrated was the Russian that he angrily threw a ball out of the stadium after losing one of the games. Impeccable with his serve, where he only gave up two points, Alcaraz was also intractable to the rest, where he took advantage of three of the six ‘break’ balls that he had to sign a well-deserved donut in nothing more than 26 minutes .
Khachanov understood that he could not continue like this if he did not want to touch the ridiculous. In the particular face to face, it was the second confrontation between both tennis players. In the previous one, in the round of 16 at Roland Garros this season, he also swept the Murcian in three sets (6-1, 6-4, 6-4).
The Muscovite brought out his most aggressive side and managed to get through his first two games with his serve. It was just a mirage. Khachanov, who became eight in the world in 2019, is today an emotional slide, capable of reaching an entire Olympic final (he lost in Tokyo to Alexander Zverev) and not stepping on a quarter round in a Grand Slam or a Masters 1,000 in the last year.
Alcaraz, thus, did not take long to decide the sleeve again on his side. The doubts that he showed against Kuhn (lost first set) in the premiere, and against Krajinovic in the round of 16, with a set resolved in sudden death, were completely parked. A ‘break’ in the fifth game was enough to undermine what little morale Khachanov had left. He just needed one more break from the Murcian to finish the duel and seal the pass to the semifinals in just one hour and nine minutes.
The Spaniard faces a semifinal for the sixth time this season, in which he maintains a spectacular balance on clay of 23 wins and only two losses. In search of his fifth title of the season after those achieved in Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Barcelona and Madrid, if he achieved it, he would surpass Rafa Nadal as the tennis player with the most titles won in 2022.
At the moment, with this victory he climbs one place in the world ranking, up to fifth, surpassing Novak Djokovic and achieving what until now is his top in the ranking. In case of ending up winning the tournament he would still move up one more position, to fourth place, overtaking Stefanos Tsitsipas.
