Australian Open 2024: quarterfinals
Carlos Alcaraz arrives at the duel with Alexander Zverev at the 2024 Australian Open with five hours less on the court than his rival
Carlos Alcaraz reaches the penultimate instance of the Open the Australia with the title of second great favorite for the title, probably shared with Jannik Sinner and behind a Novak Djokovic whom it is impossible to consider less than the best candidate as long as he is alive in the Melbourne team. Alcaraz’s feelings are unbeatable and his level of play is exceptional, but in addition, he has another advantage that differentiates him from his rival in the quarterfinals, Alexander Zverev: the time spent on the track in your previous matches.
In the four games played by Alcaraz y Zverev in it Open the Australia 2024the difference between the two in playing time is outstanding, to the point of being able to make the difference shortly after the match moves to a physical level, as expected in a duel of Grand Slamthe best of five sets and with two top-10 face to face.
Between the first round and the round of 16, Alcarazwho has only dropped one set along the way – against Sonego in the second round – has been a total of 8 hours and 48 minutes on the track. This data represents more than five hours of savings compared to what he had to use Zverev to beat his rivals until the meeting with Carlos in the quarterfinals. Sascha suffered greatly with Klein in the second round and with Norrie in eighths, for a cumulative total of 14 hours and 3 minutes of gameplay.
Time on the Alcaraz track: 8 hours and 48 minutes
- 1st R. Alcaraz vs Gasquet: 2 hours and 24 minutes (7-6, 6-1, 6-2)
- 2nd R. Alcaraz vs Sonego: 3 hours and 29 minutes (6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6)
- 3rd R. Alcaraz vs Shang: 1 hour and 5 minutes (6-1, 6-1, 1-0. ret)
- 1/8. Alcaraz vs Kecmanovic: 1 hour and 50 minutes (6-4, 6-4, 6-0)
Zverev’s track time: 14 hours and 3 minutes
- 1st R. Zverev vs Koepfer: 3 hours and 15 minutes (4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3)
- 2nd R. Zverev vs Klein: 4 hours and 37 minutes (7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6)
- 3rd R. Zverev vs Michelsen: 2 hours and 2 minutes (6-2, 7-6, 6-2)
- 1/8. Zverev vs Norrie: 4 hours and 9 minutes (7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6)
Alexander Zverev He is a very dangerous player on fast courts, thanks to his enormous ability to serve and a baseline game in which, above all, the flat backhand stands out. Installed among the best tennis players in the world for years, he is a player who, historically, has been either white or black against Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz’s victories with Zverev ‘dead’
In head to head –direct confrontations– between Alcaraz y Zverevthere are four victories on the German tennis player’s side, three for Carloswho is measured in the quarterfinals of the Open the Australia to one of the few tennis players who have won face to face in official matches. However, to try to explain one of the keys to the match, we must look at the way in which the three victories of Carlos Alcaraz about Alexander Zverev.
Face to face between Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz (ATP)
Taking away the victory in the round of 16 of the Mutua Madrid Open 2023 (6-1, 6-2) of an equation in which he could enter due to his forcefulness, in the other two stakes in which Carlos Alcaraz has defeated his next rival in the Open the Australia 2024the common denominator has been the tennis ‘beating’ of the Spaniard… after the ‘beating’ suffered by Zverev in their previous meetings.
We have the most notable example in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open 2022a duel with title at stake, in which Alcaraz went over (6-3, 6-1) of Zverev in a final without history marked by Sascha’s previous match, in which he beat Tsitsipas in a duel that ended around two in the morning in the Magic Box. Fatigue took its toll on Sascha, then nº2 del ranking ATPto the point of being destroyed by the young man Carlos Alcarazwith just turned 19 years old.
Just a few months ago, we received new proof of what happens when a Alcaraz at full strength and a physically weakened Zverev to a major test, in this case of Grand Slam. The picture of US Open 2023 summoned both contenders in the quarterfinals, with Carlos much fresher than his rival, who had spent almost five hours to beat Jannik Sinner in the previous round. The result of 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 for Carlos Alcarazwas the summary of a match without history.
Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev. (AFP)
Zverev wants to change history
Despite the undeniable fatigue that accumulates Alexander Zverev for your meeting before Carlos Alcaraz in quarters of the Open the Australiathe German tennis player appears confident and in better physical condition than on the previously mentioned occasions.
«Surely it will be an advantage for him to have spent fewer hours on the court than me. If you play less, you are fresher. In any case, I feel good, not like I did at the US Open, where I was completely dead and felt physically exhausted. “I cannot deny that I arrive tired from having played two five-set matches, but I am not exhausted, as happened in New York,” he commented at a press conference. Zverevwilling to change history and dismast Alcarazif possible, in a more or less fast game.
2024-01-23 18:34:08
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