Carlos Alcaraz made the most of the wear and tear in the round of 16. Just 46 minutes were needed to eliminate Jack Draper (6-2 and 2-0), who had to retire due to an abdominal injury, and sign his pass to the quarterfinals, from where number one is already on the horizon. .
The Murcian needs three more wins to overthrow the banned Novak Djokovic and climb to the third step of the podium for the second time in his career. His next obstacle is Felix Auger-Aliassime, one of his great black beasts and whom he has never been able to defeat in his short career.
Against the Canadian he will arrive rested, after a game that, due to its duration, was little more than a training session. And it is that Alcaraz, after a placid first set in which he barely lost five points with service and in which he broke his rival’s twice, observed that Draper requested medical assistance on court. I need an abdominal massage to, between grimaces, verify that something was not right and, although he made the effort to continue for a couple of games, he had to say enough. He looked at Alcaraz, the referee and put an end to the game. Alcaraz had the affectionate gesture of writing on the camera “Get well, Jack.”
Having overcome Draper and with three unblemished victories in the Coachella desert, the next challenge on the road is one of the most complicated for Alcaraz; he has never beaten Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian, number 10 in the world, suffered tremendously to defeat Tommy Paul (3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)), whom he lifted six match points. The first three, with his service, in the twelfth game of the match, and the next three in the ‘tie break’, where he came back from 3-6 down.
Auger-Aliassime, who has beaten Pedro Martínez, Francisco Cerúndolo and Paul up to these quarterfinals, has defeated Alcaraz in their three previous duels. He defeated him in the quarterfinals of the US Open 2021, the tournament in which Alcaraz exploded and in which he had to withdraw due to injury, he beat him in the group stage of the Davis Cup 2022 and also in the semifinals of Basel 2022 In these three matches, Alcaraz has only been able to scratch him one set.
The Murcian will not be the only Spaniard in the quarterfinals, as Alejandro Davidovich beat Christian Garin (6-3, 6-4) and will face the main favorite, Daniil Medvedev, who overcame some physical problems to beat Alexander Zverev. It will be the third clash between Davidovich and Medvedev, always with victory for the Russian in the Masters 1,000 in Madrid in 2021 and in Rotterdam last February.
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