Alcaraz seems to have recovered his best form in the second round of the US Open that takes place in New York. After his rough debut due to the abandonment of the German Dominik Koepfer due to injury, the Spanish tennis player starred in his first great exhibition on center court Arthur Ashe, the largest in the world. In this way, he got rid of the South African Lloyd Harris, number 177 of the ATP, 6-3, 6-1 and 7-6 (7/4) in two hours and 27 minutes of play.
The great blows from Murcia raised the crowd before an audience that has already adopted him as one of their own. But, above all, he surprised by his ability to escape the ambushes that Harris tried to set him, especially with his only break in the third set. “Winning in straight sets is very important to me in the first rounds,” Alcaraz congratulated himself at the end of the match.
And it is that, at 20 years old, the Spanish aspires to be the first champion to revalidate the trophy since Roger Federer in 2008. “It would be incredible to be able to share that achievement with Federer, we are going to try,” he acknowledged at the press conference.
His great rival for that feat is Novak Djokovic, already also settled in the third round and with a theoretically more affordable route due to the fall of figures from his team such as Holger Rune or Casper Rudd, finalist last year. In less than two months Alcaraz beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon final and lost in the Cincinnati Masters 1000. Now his wish is to repeat the fight for the US Open against the Serb. “Both for tennis fans and for me too, hopefully I’ll play a final here against him,” he underlined.
Other parties
At the end of the day, Daniil Medvedev defeated Australian Christopher O’Connell in a duel that lasted until just after one o’clock in the morning amid discussions between the Russian and the public. Medvedev, champion of this Grand Slam in 2021, had a difficult clash with the number 69 of the ATP that seemed to be completely under control.
After easily bagging the first two sets, the Moscow tennis player wasted two match points in the tiebreak of the third against a grown O’Connell, who extended the match until after midnight. Back on the track, the Russian was upset with the behavior of several spectators, whom he reproached for not keeping silent when he served. “Shut up please? Are they stupid or what?” Medvedev snapped at a couple of fans who were taking seats with beers in hand.
The Russian ended up resolving the clash 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8) and 6-2 and meeting in the third round with Sebastián Báez, the last Argentine representative in contention. Another of the candidates, the Italian Jannik Sinner, got rid of his compatriot and friend Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Thursday’s day was unfortunate for some of the most fearsome gunboats on the circuit. John Isner, the most prolific of them all, suffered a bitter elimination in the final game of one of the greatest American races of this century. The North Carolina giant, holder of the record for “aces” in the ATP (14,450), wasted two sets in favor and a match point until falling in the “super tiebreak” against his compatriot Michael Mmoh.
Overcome with emotion, this 2.08-meter-tall bomber covered his tears under a towel for several minutes. “It’s hard,” said Isner with a broken voice after his 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 and 7-6 (10/7) defeat after almost four hours. But “I wanted one more US Open, and I was able to get it.”
Swiatek pressure
In the women’s branch, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka dispatched 6-3, 6-2 and continues to put pressure on the Polish Iga Swiatek in her attempt to unseat her from number one in the WTA. The Tunisian Ons Jabeur, current runner-up, had to battle again to secure her pass against the Czech Linda Noskova 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 6-3.
Jabeur, with physical problems, had already called on her energy reserves on Tuesday to overcome the Colombian Camila Osorio. “I’ve been sick since Thursday (…) I’m a zombie with the flu,” explained the fifth seed of the tournament. “I’m taking a lot of medication and doing what I can to try to recover.”
2023-09-01 07:23:56
#Alcaraz #signs #recital #Open
