Carlos Alcaraz has turned tennis into an entertainment in which a smile is guaranteed. He smiles, the stands smile and even the rivals smile like Gaël Monfilswho had a great time in his third round match against the Murcian.
The Frenchman exchanged words with Mikael Tillstrom, his coach, and recognized that it was impossible to get ahold of the Spaniard. “I can’t handle him, it’s crazy,” said Monfils, a veteran of a thousand battles who knew he was facing an insurmountable wall.
The 6-2, 6-4 final reflected it, although the sensations were more important, the same ones that indicate that Carlitos has recovered his best version on this spring tour of the United States. The doubts of recent months, recognized by the tennis player himself, have passed away.
The next obstacle, without even 24 hours having passed, was the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, number 24 in the world and a tough nut who usually gives Alcaraz problems. None of that mattered to the Murcian, who is going about his business at the moment, very aware that if he is at this level he is unapproachable for most mortals.
New exhibition
One of the things that was blamed to Carlos in the previous months were his gaps throughout the games. Those moments of disconnection are very expensive no matter how much you are a genius because they force you to row against the current.
Alcaraz has learned his lesson and no longer gives his rivals any respite. Musetti, without going any further, broke the service at the first opportunity and continued to pressure the rest to close the first set comfortably (6-3) and without giving up a single break point.
Musetti, who is a gladiator, did not give up and with 4-2 down in the second set he finally managed to break Carlitos’ serve, but It was a mirage because the Spaniard achieved a counterbreak that definitively put the final double 6-3 on track.
Carlitos’ next rival, already in the quarterfinals, will be the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrovwho for his part defeated the Polish Hubert Hurkacz by 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) in a marathon duel of two hours and 43 minutes. The dream of the ‘Sunshine Double’ – the double in Indian Wells and the Miami Open – is now three games away…
2024-03-26 23:52:00
#Alcaraz #dispatches #Musetti #tennis #world #smile
