Can someone stop Carlos Alcaraz?

Is there anyone able to stop him? Is there a player in sight with the weapons to face Carlos Alcaraz, winner in Indian Wells, double champion in Barcelona, ​​winner in Buenos Aires and with all the appearances of being so again next Sunday in Madrid? He was defeated by Cameron Norrie, yes, in the final in Rio de Janeiro, but, without detracting from the brave British player, the man of the year played in the final injured and later dropped out in Acapulco. Jannik Sinner beat him, in the semifinals in Miami, with the Spaniard suffering from cramps in a formidable battle that consumed the three sets. It’s all part of the game, true, but gives the impression that being wholeRight now, waiting for what Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal can propose, absent from the competition, seems almost invincible.

Alexander Zverev, the last victim to date, found out first-hand again, devastated again this Tuesday, as he was in the final last year, this time 6-1 and 6-2, even one game less on his scoreboard than in the direct dispute for the title. Zverev, 26 years old, 19 titles, a US Open final, a title in the ATP Finals, on his way to becoming another member of the lost generation, no matter how much he still has the face-to-face with the Spaniard on his side, 3- 2, with victory in the quarterfinals of the last Roland Garros, when this boy, who was already scaring, He had not yet indicated these sidereal distances with any of his adversaries.

«I do not feel superior to anyone, but it is true that when I am physically fit I know how difficult it is for my rivals, I know they will have to play very well to beat me», Alcaraz answers, recently arrived at the press conference after the game.

There are 26 victories in 28 games in 2023. Three titles, a final and a semifinal. Seven sets as the maximum concession apart from the two losses reviewed. He gave up the last set in his debut in this edition of the tournament, against the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori. An accident, in view of what has come after. Next Please. It will be (this Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. Teledeporte and Movistar) in the quarterfinals, the Russian Karen Khachanov, who lost 6-0 and 6-2 in the same round in Hamburg last year, 6-1, 6-4 and 6-4 in the round of 16 at Roland Garros. Both appointments in clay, the surface that now concerns us.

Tsitsipas, another victim

Zverev, a member of what is beginning to be a lost generation, definitely run over by Alcaraz. What to say about Stefanos Tsitsipas, 25, without an answer in the last final of the Conde de Godó. Four defeats already against the Spaniard, each more resounding since that in the third round of the 2021 United States Open that began to point out where the shots would come from.

Sinner, 21 years old, postulates himself as an alternative in the emerging generation. He is 3-3 head-to-head with Alcaraz. He has seven titles and two Masters 1000 finals. Discreet records still, compared to the nine from Murcia, which include the United States Open and three of the tournaments of immediate hierarchical value. Sinner will open his clay season in Rome. He is resting since he lost to Medvedev in the Miami final.

Holguer Rune turned 20 last Saturday. He has won four titles, including the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000, beating Novak Djokovic in the final. He is 1-1 with Alcaraz, whom he dominated in the quarterfinals of the French indoor tournament when he withdrew with a serious abdominal injury. He has recently finished in Monte Carlo.

The Dane, defeated by Alejandro Davidovich in the third round of the Mutua, adds to its magnificent conditions a well-earned vitola of racketeer. The most recent exhibition was at Manolo Santana against the player from Malaga, in a tense match in which he stirred up the public and argued hard with the chair umpire. He drags a controversial file for disputes beyond the network with Wawrinka and Ruud.