Carlos Alcaraz is on the ropes at the ATP Finals in Turin. Their survival in the tournament hangs by a thread and is certainly complicated. The man from Murcia fell this Friday against an intractable Alexander Zverev 7-6 (5), 6-4 in 1 hour and 57 minutes and is awaiting a miracle. Only if this Friday night Casper Ruud wins a set against the Russian Andrei Rublev will the Spaniard pack his bags. In the event that Rublev wins in two sets, there will be a triple tie between Alcaraz, Ruud and the Russian. Then we would have to look at the number of games won-lost to know who comes second in the group and joins Zverev in the semifinals. Sinner and Fritz have been waiting there since Thursday, who will be the German’s opponent this Saturday.
After losing his debut against Ruud in a very irregular match, especially in the first set, Alcaraz defeated Rublev. He had improved in his tennis and in his physical condition, now more recovered from an untimely cold. A good part of his options were at stake because against a Zverev who had won his previous matches and was full of confidence
The player from Palmar could not break the German’s serve throughout the match, and he reached the semi-finals
The Murcian tried to hold on to the track because beyond victory, each game in the bag could be key in the face of a hypothetical tiebreaker. Zverev pushed him to the limit from the beginning, with devastating serves and constant climbs to the net. Sascha’s pressure was permanent and Alcaraz struggled using a mixture of art, power and grit. The player from Palmar avoided up to seven break points in the opening set, including one set point. Zverev’s bouts of service were shorter and he did not allow break opportunities. That gave him confidence to play the rest with ease but despite this Alcaraz managed to take the set to sudden death. A tie-break played from power to power, an example of the sleeve, Zverev commanding and the Spaniard resisting. Until Alcaraz rushed into the key action and lost 7-6 (5).
Delivering the set there left Alcaraz shaken, who then lost his serve. With 2-0 down in the second set it was already very difficult. Even so, he finally had a couple of break opportunities, but he couldn’t capitalize on them and left the match without getting a break.
Zverev, to the semifinals, and Alcaraz pending a victory for Rublev with a carom.
#Alcaraz #powerful #Zverev #ropes
