Carlos Alcaraz The defense of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 crown began this Friday with triumph after defeating Matteo Arnaldi, 6-7(5), 6-0 and 6-1, in 2 hours and 14 minutes. It was the second time that the two tennis players faced each other. The other was in the round of 16 of the last US Open, also with the Spaniard’s victory.
There are already seven wins that Carlitos has chained in the Tennis Garden headquarters, an installation in which a mural with his figure already appears as a souvenir of his title in 2023. The Murcian wants to repeat to dust off a record that has not moved since achieving the Wimbledon crown.
Alcaraz already has his mural as Indian Wells champion
His next obstacle will be the Canadian this Sunday Happy Auger-Also, 31st on the lists and which has won three of the previous four. Alcaraz’s only victory came precisely a year ago in the Indian Wells quarterfinals.
The pupil of Juan Carlos Ferrero, recovered from the grade 2 sprain that occurred in the first round of the Rio Open with Thiago Monteiro, responded to the triumph of Jannik Sinner, who is pursuing his privileged place on the ATP podium, immediately behind Novak Djokovic .
“Don’t push, you have to give,” Ferrero reminded him during one of the breaks. Carlitos missed a breaking ball in the third game.
Millionaire Larry Ellison, owner of the tournament, did not want to miss the duel. Alcaraz, in his third turn, reached a serve of 220 kilometers per hour, the second strongest serve of his career after the 227 km/h he achieved in the last edition of the Mutua Madrid Open with Alexander Zverev. In that case he was helped by the 657-meter height of the capital of Spain.
The tennis player from El Palmar is smiling again on the court and that is great news for him and for tennis. Arnaldi held his own until 3-3. His ball speed is not that of the champion of two majors. In the seventh round came the break of the second favorite, accompanied by the upward fist. What happens is that the Italian returned the break later helped by a double fault from his opponent.
Carlitos wore the same purple and blue kit which premiered last Sunday at the Netflix exhibition held in Las Vegas. Matteo secured the coin of sudden death and along the way he had an initial round option, with 6-5. Carlitos saved her with a serve and a right.
Half way back
“Every point, let’s go. You have to play it“, repeated ‘Juanqui’ from the sideline. Alcaraz came back from 5-2 down and served by Arnaldi, but a backhand that died in the net handed the first set to his opponent. It was time for the Spaniard to come back, something he had not done since the semifinals of the 2023 Cincinnati Masters 1000 with the Polish Hubert Hurkacz.
The Murcian was one round away from his third defeat on the circuit, a situation that occurred for the last time at the end of last year, a course between Shanghai and the ATP Finals in Turin. The defender of the crown in the Californian desert He grabbed it and came out in a rush, with a resounding 6-0. He ordered the rackets to be strung “25, 23”, because the battle was going to be long. This was indicated to the chair umpire, the experienced Mohamed Lahyani.
The 12 roscos in the Alcaraz race
Madrid 2021 primera ronda Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-0
US Open 2021 eighth Peter Gojowczyk 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
Indian Wells 2022 third round Roberto Bautista 6-2, 6-0
Roland Garros 2022 first round Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0
Umag 2022 quarterfinals Facundo Bagnis 6-0, 6-4
Rio Open 2023 semifinals Nicolás Jarry 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-0
Miami Open 2023 second round Facundo Bagnis 6-2, 6-0
Miami Open 2023 third round Dusan Lajovic 6-0, 7-6
Roland Garros 2023 1 round Flavio Cobolli 6-0, 6-2, 7-5
Wimbledon 2023 1st round Jeremy Chardy 6-0, 6-2, 7-5
Open de Australia 2024 octavos Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-0
Indian Wells 2024 second round Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5), 6-0 and 6-1
Arnaldi called a truce and went to the locker room. He had given up the last nine games of the match. “Invest the first five hard there. Bravo that order from the beginning and then courage and we shoot“, Ferrero stressed to his player. Alcaraz followed the instructions to the letter, like a dedicated student, and it was reflected in the scoreboard.
Carlos’s right
The transalpine would end the bleeding by opening his locker in the fourth game of the third set. He would be the only one who would fall on his side in a final sequence of 12-1. It was too late for him, despite enjoying a 3-1 and 15-40 to recover his servebecause the right of his executioner had already found the right blow, his best weapon.
This Friday also passed the round Roberto Carballés, who defeated Flabio Cobolli, by a double 6-4. The man from Granada earned the right to be the first rival of Daniil Medvedevfinalist in 2023.
2024-03-09 04:23:01
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