RIO DE JANEIRO-. After stumbling on Australia and Argentina, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz has the chance to right his unexpected start to the season in a tournament that catapulted him to the top of world tennis: the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeirothe main competition in South America, whose main draw begins on Monday.
The Iberian prodigy, number two in the world ranking, returns to the clay court of the Jockey Club where in 2022 he became the youngest to win an ATP 500 tournament and began his transformation from promise to exciting reality on rackets.
He will be hurt after leaving blank in the two competitions he has played so far in 2024: he lost on Saturday in the semifinals of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires with the Chilean Nicolás Jarry (21) and in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with the German Alexander Zverev (6) almost a month ago.
“I have played good tennis, but far from my real level,” he said after being left out of the defense of the crown in Argentina.
In his second and last date with the clay of his South American tour, Alcaraz, 20 years old, will debut against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (118), in the first round of a tournament that commemorates its tenth edition.
The first, in 2014, was won by the Spanish Rafael Nadal. He was succeeded by players like David Ferrer, Diego Schwartzman, Dominic Thiem and Christian Garín, without any of them repeating the conquest.
The eventual achievement of the two-time championship may have the aroma of revenge for the Murcian, the only Top-10 in the world in the Rio competition and who has completed seven months without winning a title. The last one was at Wimbledon, in July.
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AFP / Martín MANTÉN
old acquaintances
Last year, hampered by physical problems, he lost the award to the British Cameron Norrie (20), who returns to the ‘Cidade maravilhosa’ as second seed and with the intention of getting even for the early elimination (eighth round) he suffered in Argentina.
Norrie, 28, will begin the defense of the crown against Bolivian Hugo Dellien (135).
But there are other men lurking in a competition that demands more than talent in a Rio still hungover after the end of its famous carnival.
The hot and humid postal city of Brazil usually suffers from strong storms at this time, causing major disruptions in the programming of previous editions.
Jarry, third seed, took revenge in Buenos Aires for the two defeats that Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil gave him last year, when he beat him in the semifinal of Rio and in the third round of Wimbledon.
Reborn after the suspension for doping that in 2020 removed him from the sport For eleven months, the Chilean will clash with the German Yannick Hanfmann (56) after having lost the final in Buenos Aires on Sunday with the local Facundo Díaz Acosta (87).
Behind, on the list of favorites, are the Argentines Francisco Cerúndolo (22) and Sebastián Báez (30) and the Serbian Laslo Djere (35).
new faces
Also the promise of French tennis, Arthur Fils, seventh seed, the youngest tennis player in the current Top-50 of the world ranking.
At 19 years old, the Frenchman will debut at the Jockey Club, whose tickets sold out months ago, after a meteoric rise in 2023 that took him from 251st place to the current 36th.
The Frenchman will make his debut against another promise, the Brazilian Joao Fonseca (648), 17 years old, who received an invitation card for the second consecutive year.
Winner of the 2023 US Junior Open, Fonseca is the new hope for a ‘torcida’ team that still misses the retired Gustavo Kuerten, considered the best Brazilian tennis player in history.
In Rio, the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (60), former number three in the world ranking, will also have his first participation, and there will be old acquaintances, such as the Spaniards Roberto Carballés (64), Jaume Munar (71), Bernabé Zapata (78) and Albert Ramos (99).
Source: AFP
