In the logical process of adaptation, Carlos Alcaraz rediscovers what the present demands, which sounds like this: Tac-tac! The Murcian hits the soles of his shoes to shake off the dirt and ensure grip on the next point, and as the minutes and rallies pass, the subconscious remembers what this is about: thinking, sliding, flowing. There will be time to take out the whip. Eight months later, the Murcian has returned to the arena and in his second appearance, packed again on the Buenos Aires track, lady humidity when the night closes in front of 6,000 spectators, he shifts up a gear and finally reduces the brave Andrea Vavassori . The Italian, 28 years old and coming from the qualifying phase, lasts exactly the 58 minutes that the first set lasts. From there, he collapsed. The score is 7-6(1) and 6-1, which leads the Spaniard to the semifinals.
“I prefer [Nicolás] Jarry, because I don’t want to face another player from here…” jokes the winner, who at that moment still does not know if this Saturday (not before 10:00 p.m., Movistar+ Deportes) he will face the Chilean or the local Tomás Martín Etcheverry. He will be the first. In any case, Carlitos departs satisfied, clad in a black jacket that protects him from the wind that complicated the first round, the stretch that really took a toll because in the continuation his rival (152nd in the world) collapsed. The one from El Palmar finds that after landing on the first day, without doubts or setbacks in Thursday’s match against Ugo Carabelli, his game has offered one more point of vigor and he has been able to respond to the audacity of Vavassori, condemned for his sudden decline in it tie breakwhere the good ones work and the average ones tend to get rid of.
“In the first set, he played at a very high level. It was difficult to beat him because of the wind, it was difficult to change direction, but in the second his performance went down and I took it from him too, and I played very well. Today I haven’t had so many ups and downs, yesterday I did. I have been more linear and I have managed to maintain concentration for longer. I felt very good despite the conditions, there was a lot of wind on both sides. “You have to know how to deal with the fact of being a favorite and having people think you have to win,” analyzes Alcaraz, who last year won the Buenos Aires trophy for the first time and is trying to repeat the scene. He does so, for now, with good arguments. The effectiveness in the serve (80%) greatly contributes to good performance, and once the opponent’s only break option has been thwarted, in the fourth game, he applies the full weight of logic on him.
Consequently, he signs his first semifinal this year and confirms that in a hypothetical final he would inevitably face an Argentine, either Facundo Díaz (6-4 and 6-3 against Dusan Lajovic) or Federico Coria (6-1 and 6 -4 to Sebastián Báez), mentioned in the first shift on Saturday. In parallel, Alcaraz looks out of the corner of his eye at the Jannik Sinner track in Rotterdam, where the Italian also enters the penultimate round thanks to the victory against Milos Raonic, with the Canadian withdrawn due to physical problems (7-6(4) and 1 -1).