BARCELONA, 18 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell-71st Conde de Godó Trophy will not have any Spanish representative in the quarterfinals, for the first time since 1989, after the defeats this Thursday of Roberto Bautista, Alejandro Davidovich and Roberto Carballés against Cameron Norrie, Dusan Lajovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas, respectively.
Bad day for what was left of the Spanish delegation in Godó. The old ‘armada’, always well represented in the Catalan tournament by David Ferrer – now director -, Fernando Verdasco, Nico Almagro and above all Rafa Nadal, the historic twelve-time champion, is not having a great relief and, in In this strange edition, the worst scenario occurred and, for the first time in the last 35 years, the Godó will not have Spaniards in the quarterfinals.
The double current champion and called to be the reference for the following editions, Carlos Alcaraz from Murcia, could not play because he was not physically well. The ‘king’ Rafa Nadal, after whom the center court is named, did play but, after almost four months unemployed, he was barely able to reach the Second Round and fell to the Australian Alex de Miñaur. Without the two big names, the rest of the Spaniards fell until the last three representatives reached the round of 16.
The euphoric Roberto Bautista, after celebrating his 400th ATP victory in Barcelona, could not stay alive against a Cameron Norrie who, seeded number 12 in the tournament, did not lose a beat against the player from Castellón, who recently recovered. In just 1:24 hours of play, with 6-4 and 6-3, the two-time quarterfinalist will try, on the third time, to advance to the semi-finals for the first time.
BAD PREMIERE OF DAVIDOVICH
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina fared worse. The one from Rincón de la Victoria went to the opposite corner against Serbian Dusan Lajovic in an epic 2 and a half hour duel that the 33-year-old from Belgrade won 7-6[10], 3-6 and 6-1. A match in which the man from Malaga could notice his lack of rhythm against the more dynamic Serbian.
Being the eleventh seed in the tournament, Davidovich skipped the First Round and, in the Second Round, he did not play due to an injury prior to the clash with his rival, the Czech Tomas Machac. On the other hand, Lajovic had already played those two games and, far from paying for it, it benefited him. Especially in a first set where he caught the Spaniard on the wrong foot.
The first set was decided in a very long ‘tie break’ of more than 15 minutes (10-12) that ended 1:16 hours into the set. Tremendous effort from both, in a start that would have been very different if with serve and 3-5 on the scoreboard, the Serbian had not allowed Davidovich to return the break of serve and get back into the fight. Although, in the end, sudden death was for Lajovic.
Little by little Davidovich was getting into tune and he showed it in the second set, especially when he linked three games in a row, including a break, to close the set with 6-3 and in just 36 minutes. A set in which he made fewer unforced errors and was able to handle his opponent almost as he pleased.
But, when it seemed that there would be a comeback and that the Spaniard best placed in the ATP ranking (currently number 27 in the world) could use the favorable magic on the Rafa Nadal Court to his advantage, things went wrong. The fifth game was a clear turning point, with the Serbian serving and 1-3 in his favor. At 13:47 minutes, Lajovic held serve and Davidovich sank, letting himself be carried away until his farewell.
In those almost 14 minutes of disputed play, Davidovich had up to 4 breaking balls to be able to go 2-3 down and serve to equal the initial 0-3. However, the constant change of advantage from the ‘deuce’ ended up being for Lajovic and, there, the Serbian began to breathe seeing that he no longer had any resistance in front of him.
CARBALLÉS FIGHTED AND FOUND AGAINST TSITSIPAS
The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of the big favorites to win this Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and he showed it against Roberto Carballés in a beautiful duel of 1:46 hours that closed with 5-7 and 3-6 in favor of the fifth seed of the tournament and three times finalist in the RCTB-1899 tournament.
Carballés fought and left everything on the clay of a divided Rafa Nadal Court but almost favorable to the one from Tenerife. In the first set he went ahead on the scoreboard by breaking the Greek’s serve in the fifth game (3-2), but Tsitsipas recovered instantly and, with 5-6 for the Athenian and serve for the Spaniard, he lost the first set with an unfair double fault.
Hard blow and a bucket of cold water, on a fairly cool afternoon in the Catalan capital, for a Carballés who was no less, but who saw Tsitsipas grow, more inspired than in his debut in Barcelona against the Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
With 2-3 in favor of Tsitsipas and no breaks of serve, the first came next and was scored by the Greek. And that 2-4 was already too high a wall for the Spaniard, who was able to retain his next serve but not get into the duel, which closed with a 3-6 and 46 minutes into the second and final set.
2024-04-18 17:45:10
#Godó #left #Spaniards
