Carlos Alcaraz has taken a run and let's see who stops him now. The Murcian defeated Lorenzo Musetti (6-3 and 6-3) in less than an hour and a half and is in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters 1,000 for the third consecutive year.
There are already nine victories in a row, including those in Indian Wells, and he is, without a doubt, in the best moment of the season. He is aiming for the 'Sunshine Double', that is, achieving two 1,000 American Masters in a row, and Musetti was just an easy obstacle to jump on the way.
The Italian is one of those privileged few who has managed to win a final against Alcaraz – there are only other tennis players on the circuit, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Cameron Norrie. He achieved it in Hamburg 2022 and, although Alcaraz already avenged him in the round of 16 at Roland Garros last year, this time he made even more of a dent in a scenario that he likes and in which he feels comfortable, such as Miami, where he has already been in the top eight for three years in a row.
This time the suspense was off the court, as it already happened with the bees in California, and the game was delayed several hours because there was a power outage and the hawk eye was not working. This meant that the match between Victoria Azarenka and Yulia Putintseva could not start and, therefore, the Alcaraz match, which was played later on the same court, also started late.
But Alcaraz is already used to all these setbacks, especially in a week marked by rain and delays and postponements, and they do not intimidate or hinder him in the least.
That's why he started with a 'break' in favor and sent a first warning to Musetti, who did not generate a single break ball in his favor in the first set and gave up his serve again at 5-3.
Alcaraz had everything under control and only suffered a scare at 1-1 in the second set, when he solved two break points and with 4-2 in favor, when he saw victory so close that he got mixed up and lost his serve for first time in the game.
The Murcian drew blood with the Italian's backhand and had no problems going up to the net, hitting drop shots and showing a very aggressive game, with 23 winners. Furthermore, he varied his position a lot in the rest, protecting his backhand to seek to dominate with his forehand.
He had a small scare in the last game of the match, which was reminiscent of what happened in Rio de Janeiro, when he sprained his ankle. He slipped and fell to the ground, with no major consequences other than a small scratch on his right hand.
It only gave him a shock. He did not even suffer to seal the match that takes him to this quarterfinal against the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who beat the Polish Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3 and 7-6 (3). It will be the fifth clash between the two, with three victories in the first three duels for the Spaniard and a last precedent, in the Shanghai Masters 1,000 in 2023 with victory for the Bulgarian. If Alcaraz takes him, he will equal the result achieved here last year.
#Alcaraz #continues #brakes
