One say noi

In the elite of the ATP circuit they are already clear that Carlos Alcaraz is with them, that he is ‘uno di noi’ (one of us), as the Italian Matteo Berrettini would say, which the 18-year-old from Murcia beat this Friday at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna: 6-1, 6-7 (2) and 7-6 (5) in 2h40. Two days after beating former world number one and three Grand Slams winner Andy Murray, Alcaraz was able to beat the current seven and runner-up at Wimbledon to certify his second-biggest ranking win after the one he added in the US. Open against three, Stefanos Tsitsipas. It is the first time that Carlos has reached the semifinals of an ATP 500 and in them he will face on Saturday (14:00, #Vamos) the German Alexander Zverev, who beat the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3), rival with whom he was measured and lost this year in Acapulco.

A new example of his precociousness is that in the history of the tournament, since 1974, only two players younger than him had reached the penultimate round before: the Swede Stefan Edberg, with 17 in 1983, and the Swiss Roger Federer, with 18 and a few months less than the Spanish in 1999. In addition, Charly provisionally rises to 35th place in the world ranking, the best of his fledgling career.

His merit is tremendous, especially if one takes into account that he was about to endorse him a donut, in a first set to frame that was targeted in 29 minutes, to one of the three players who credits 80% of victories with at least 30 games played so far this season, along with Djokovic and Medvedev. Later the game leveled off because Berrettini began to serve better and understand what his opponent was doing, who was insistently looking for the backhand. and he executed him with parallels when the Roman was reversed to hit him as a drive. Alcaraz’s tactical level is strikingly striking, how he chooses the best option almost at every point. “Now I am calmer, I believe in my game and what I can do and I think more clearly,” he explained at a press conference. The second set escaped him due to a bad tiebreaker, after having held up magnificently with his serve without giving up a single break option.

Final apotheosis

The third quarter was very much in favor of Alcaraz, with a break to put himself with a notable advantage (4-1), but when he served for 5-2 he had his only bad game on serve. He lost it blank for a double fault and had to row again, at full speed against an opponent who was not at all erratic, who was playing at his highest level. A second tie-break was reached and there Charly went with everything, he beat it cleanly and with a saquetazo, without fear. The first thing he did, before celebrating, was run to give a child a wristband. “I think it was one of the best performances of my career,” he said, before highlighting the mental aspect as the key to his success. “It is the most important part of tennis. I work with a psychologist and without her it would be impossible to achieve this.” “Juan Carlos told me that I had to be aggressive, dominate, wait for my opportunities to others and play my game,” added the boy. , that he has a mantra: “Always be in the party.” Where it is already is among the best.

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