“Intensity, like a rock!”he yelled at him Juan Carlos Ferrero from the first minute. Alcaraz repeated it over and over again. As if trying to convince himself that he was stronger and that he could. And could. Not without suffering before a tommy paul very fast and even more solid, as it has been demonstrating, and in a game that lasted too long because of the rain, which stopped the duel on a few occasions(7-6, 6-7 and 6-3).
The world number one turned the harmlessness of the first half of the first set into bravery. I took the initiative to overshadow Paul and close the first sleeve in the tie-break, which he had to reach, despite the six break opportunities he missed. It did not take too long, on the other hand, to score the first sleeve. To second set point, which he looked like he was going to miss.
In the third and sixth games of the second set, he let go of his serve. Two of those moments of irregularity that have been marking the trajectory of the Spaniard in what we have been on an American tour. The history of the past rounds was repeated again, with the exception that, in the first break, the reaction was immediate.
too much storm
To delicate moments, courage. And against a rival that dominates, an aggressive Alcaraz. That was the key to his change. Every time the tennis player from El Palmar was seen against the ropes, he reacted by returning equality to the scoreboard. He did it once in the first moto and three in the second, lifting two set balls in the latter.
Three, on the other hand, were the times that Paul fended off an early finish, to later endorse a 7-0 tie-break against the world number one. But then everything went back to normal. Carlitos prevailed in the third set with the iron fist. When the rain let him down, he stopped the game on a few occasions. Consummate revenge against his executioner in Toronto and Max Purcell awaits in the quarterfinals.
