The quality of the tennis players Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek It does not break even though they have been out of activity for almost a month. This weekend, both became champions of the Barcelona and Stuttgart tournaments, respectively, and confirmed that they are back on both the ATP and WTA Tour at the highest level, after injuries forced them to miss tournaments. important between March and April.
The Spanish Alcaraz managed to endorse his title in the Barcelona Open (ATP 500 level) after defeating the second seed of the tournament, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, by partials of 6-3 and 6-4. In this way, he reached 9 titles in his career before turning 19 years of age, which places him in the sixth historical place in this category behind Bjorn Borg (17), Rafael Nadal (16), Mats Wilander (13) , Boris Becker (12) and Andre Agassi (10).
“It has been a wonderful week, it is always very nice to play at home in front of my family. It ended the week as we would have expected and it has been incredible to play in Barcelona, because here I have the opportunity to play in front of all my family and friends, who are the ones I have been hanging out with since I was 10 years old. I feel very lucky to have been able to live this experience with them”, said Alcaraz after the victory over Tsitsipas.
The title had an even more special flavor for Alcaraz due to his busyness between March and April, which began with the defeat in the semifinals of the Miami Open against the Italian Jannik Sinner and that prevented him from reaching the Double Sunshine this year. Later he announced his withdrawal from the Monte Carlo Masters because he was suffering from post-traumatic arthritis in his left hand and muscular discomfort in the spine.
After that defeat against Sinner on March 31, 18 days passed before he returned to the circuit in Barcelona, where he eliminated Nuno Borges, Roberto Bautista, Alejandro Davidovich, Daniel Evans and finally Stefanos Tsitsipas, thus winning his third title this season after the Argentine Open in February and Indian Wells in early March.
“For me it has not been easy, maybe from the outside it has been seen that way because of the pace or the results, but it has not been like that. The great players are in the finals and I want to be part of the group of the best tennis players in the world. In important moments is where you see that, I always take it that way ”.
Last year Alcaraz won his first Barcelona title after defeating his compatriot Pablo Carreño. After the triumph of this 2023, he became the eighth player to revalidate the throne of this clay tournament in the Open Era (since 1969), along with Ilie Nastase, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Andrés Gómez, Thomas Muster, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori.
The weight tests will continue for the young Spaniard, since immediately after the Barcelona Open the Madrid Masters begins, followed by the Rome Masters and ending with the Grand Slam at Roland Garros before the end of May. Inspired by his three titles in 2023, he will also try to defend the crown in Madrid.
“Not winning Madrid would not be a failure for me, it depends on the level I have shown and the games. For me, failure would depend on the level I show and the way I play”, said the two-time Barcelona champion, who with this crown managed to close the gap in the ATP ranking and is now 365 points behind the leader, Novak Djokovic.
Swiatek endorses his number 1 in the world from Germany
A similar story was experienced in the women’s circuit with the triumphant return of Iga Swiatekwho was left with the crown of the stuttgart open (WTA 500) after beating Aryna Sabalenka by partials of 6-3 and 6-4. Like Alcaraz, the Polish defended her title in this tournament on German soil and did so against the same rival.
“I really wanted to win, but I knew that I couldn’t really concentrate on that alone and I had to keep doing my job like I did in the previous matches. I am quite happy that I can have a good mentality and focus on what I want to do in terms of tennis, ”said Swiatek, who reached 13 titles in his career.
The Pole was inactive for more than a month, since her last match had been on March 17 in the semifinal of Indian Wells which she lost to Elena Rybakina. After that, he announced his withdrawal from the Miami Masters and was unable to participate with his country’s team in the Billie Jean King Cup either, since he had discomfort in his ribs derived from a strong cough that had affected him since the beginning of February at the Doha tournament.
It was not until April 20 when she returned to the circuit in the round of 16 of the Stuttgart Prix, where she eliminated the Chinese Zheng Qinwen, the Czech Karolina Pliskova, the Tunisian Ons Jabeur and finally the Belarusian Sabalenka. The final was a clash of high standards as it starred the number 1 and 2 in the world today.
“I am very proud of my consistency at this level, it is above my expectations. Last year was really hard and it seemed that this season could also be because of what people expect and the expectations, but I am happy to have worked on this, now I feel that I can use my experience”, analyzed Swiatek.
After her victory, the Polish woman will continue in the 1st ranking of the WTA with 8,975 points, further separating herself from Sabalenka, who is left with 6,891 in second place. Swiatek won his second title this season and will once again test his quality in Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros, just as Alcaraz will do on the men’s circuit.
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