The ramps at Wimbledon lean and when others wince in the direction of the heights, he, the tournament’s youngest quarterfinalist since 2014 – then the irrepressible Australian Nick Kyrgios – smiles. Carlos Alcaraz continues to have a good time, once again graceful against the rival’s attack. “I knew it was going to be very hard, he [Matteo Berrettini] He is a great player and I was playing very well, but I knew I was going to have my chances. I had to keep concentrating because I’m working on that, not to lose my head, and I think I’ve done great”, assesses the Spaniard, solvent again despite starting in tow (3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and 6-3, after 3h 05m). He now heads decisively towards the Dane Holger Rune and warns: “This is something he wanted. Last year I lost in the fourth round and I wanted to go to the quarters. I’m hungry for more.”
Asked a few days ago about which of his conditions he would highlight, Alcaraz mentioned elasticity and explosiveness, attributes that he is showing off these days at Wimbledon. Nobody maneuvers with as much displacement as him and only Novak Djokovic, the rubber man, is capable of stretching his muscles so much in the stretch. He forces the Berrettini extension time and time again, but the Italian meets a flycatcher who reaches for everything and almost everything returns. There is a cat there. To the rest, the Murcian shows off his palm and submits the rival to a Machiavellian game of precision: no matter how similar, I will be there. The Roman stem (27 years and 1.96) looks for the lines in the service, angles, rectifies to deceive or shoots the body. Everything proves it. The percentages are notable, but the tool arrives with each hit; progressively decrease, to the beat of the distrust of the bombardier.
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At Wimbledon, the English Wild West, everything happens at breakneck speed. The reaction time to hit is minimal and the registration requires playing all the time with water around the neck. Alcaraz, as he has demonstrated, is devastating when the gap between playing and hitting grows a couple of tenths on earth and cement, and he is now understanding that to acquire the same alacrity on the green he must resort to new automatisms. They have. In that briefcase there is abundance. More conservative with the drive, he uses the cut with confidence and exploits a wonderful coordination of feet. Although the tone exhibited up to this point in the tournament is not as exuberant as in other episodes of his short career, it is worth it to dispatch opponents and enter the sweet strip with aspirations, knowing that the almighty Djokovic competes several lengths ahead.
The Spaniard longs for the crossing with Nole next Sunday and on the route to date he continues to gather good arguments to achieve it. After two docile adversaries (Jeremy Chardy and Alexandre Müller) and well resolved the test of Nicolás Jarry, serving by trade, he also overcomes the first duel with one of the few tennis players who dominate the codes of the grass today. Derailed in recent times as a result of injuries, Berrettini knows what he is doing. He moves well, lifts when he proceeds and fires whips with the right, at the same time mitigating the flaw that he has in a more deficient backhand in other territories. A finalist two years ago, 38th in the ranking and now trying to rejoin the noble zone after not a few tears, he appeased the impetuous departure of Alcaraz and scratched the break in the eighth game to decide the first set.
decipher the moments
The afternoon begins uphill for number one and after the rainy days, this time the wind asks for passage; not excessive, but latent, annoying enough to affect the way you hit. A beautiful shot between the net post and the judge’s chair definitely activates the transmission belt of the Murcian, whole despite the concession and increasingly loose, growing. Cold sweats for Berrettini, forced to put out several fires until he gives in –fourth game of the second set– and the pulse definitely changes trend. At no time has the Roman finished being comfortable, much less when Alcaraz finds the optimal temperature in the attack. Mallet in hand, this non-stop threat, like a good big-headed Murcian, and not only has he recovered lost ground –difficult this against a server– but he enlarges himself the moment he proceeds.
Alcaraz is interested in Berrettini in an Italian case.Associated Press/LaPresse Alberto Pezzali (APS)
There is the difference: the good and the best. Knowing how to decipher the moments and identify the emotional climax of the matches. He knows when and where to hit the Spaniard, who knocks down the wall on the fifth attempt. He has a nose, he has an instinct. That is not trained. Obtained the break, third game of the third sleeve, sets the pace and Berrettini makes the rubber. The roof is closed, artificial light. On the wire, the Italian does not lose his temper or is impressed, his response is commendable after so many months of curves, nursing and hard times. But at the head office it is suspected that one moment or another he is going to take the wrong step. He holds up, but doesn’t intimidate. He doesn’t squeeze. His aces locker remains at nine, a very scarce harvest for a puncher whose performance is directly associated with said section. 15 break options are sought Alcaraz, three him.
The latter sticks out his chest towards the quarterfinals and spots his friend Rune on the immediate horizon, the unruly Norse, an emerging but still uncertain competitor. “It’s great to play against Holger, two young guys achieving their dreams and fighting in the quarter-finals is good for tennis. I have coincided with him in many tournaments since we were 12 years old, we have grown together, ”he recalls. The story goes from young people, but in a matter of cooking and processes, there is no classmate from El Palmar who can shadow him today.
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2023-07-10 20:30:02
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