16/03/2024 23:14hs.
The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz broke the streak of 19 consecutive victories against the Italian Jannik Sinner, against whom he came back and won 1-6, 6-4 and 6-2 to fly to the final of the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells and also retain , the second position in the world ranking.
Alcaraz revalidated the victory achieved last year in this same round against Sinner and will fight this Sunday against the winner of the duel between the Russian Daniil Medvedev and the American Tommy Paul for the fifth Masters 1,000 of his career in six finals.
The Murcian returned to a final for the first time since last August, when he lost against Serbian Novak Djokovic at the Cincinnati Masters 1,000 and he took revenge on Sinner, who had beaten him in the last two precedents: Miami and Beijing 2023.
Alcaraz before Sinner. (Photo: Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
Cold blood after a 1-6
This time it was not the bees, but the rain that stopped the Alcaraz match. After the long wait for the surreal invasion of bees in the duel won against Zverev in the quarterfinals, This Saturday the game was stopped for almost three hours due to the water falling in the center.
Sinner was leading 2-1 without a break before the break and resumed the match with a stellar level of tennis that allowed him to get the first break of the match to take a 3-1 lead. Alcaraz had a ball to immediately put the match back in balance, but Sinner canceled it and consolidated the break to escape 4-1.
If the Italian was forceful with the serve, Alcaraz suffered with his second serve, with which he could only take two points out of eight in the first set. That, and Sinner’s deep and solid blows forced several errors from the Murcian, who gave up serve again, at 15, and lost the first set with a resounding 6-1 in just 36 minutes.
Tactical modifications
Alcaraz knew how to recover and faced the second set with lucidity and forcefulness. He limited unforced errors and changed pace more to put Sinner in trouble. It worked for him. At 2-1 in the light, he got two breaking points and broke with a perfect right-footed volley.
The tennis level continued to be very high and, at 3-1, Sinner took a wonderful 15 that brought the audience to their feet. Both the Italian and Alcaraz smiled when finishing the point.
The Murcian regained confidence and inertia and was able to cancel out the two break balls achieved, with efforts by Sinner. He canceled the first at 4-2 and the second at 5-3, with an extraordinary parallel backhand on the line. An elegant drop shot confirmed the 6-3 which, after one hour and 22 minutes, sent the match to the decisive set.
Sinner had only lost one set in the last 23 played, but could not contain Alcaraz’s reaction. The Murcian had the wind in his favor and he came out to bite. He led Sinner to 40-all in his first turn, won his serve game to nil, and broke in the third game. The Italian, who began to touch his left calf, He struggled to manage the Spaniard’s changes of pace, who sent him several balls with little weight that took away his rhythm.
Alcaraz felt more and more comfortable, in control of the points against a Sinner who was suffering a lot to find a way to put the Murcian in trouble. He did not miss the opportunity for the winner of two ‘greats’. He got another break, at 15, and opened the way to an authoritarian 6-2 that gave him the ticket to the final.
Alcaraz y Sinner. (Photo: Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
2024-03-17 02:14:34
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