This Wednesday, Carlos Alcaraz was proclaimed champion of ‘The Garden Cup’ exhibition tournament, held at New York’s Madison Square Garden, after beating the American Ben Shelton 4-6, 6-2 and 7-4.
The Murcian tennis player did not enter the match well, as he tied 4-1 in the first set for Shelton, but ended up giving in by mainly repeating the same two mistakes in the last games: difficulties in the rest due to the powerful serves of the American and inaccuracies when uploading to the network.
In front of the legendary pavilion packed with almost 19,700 spectators, Alcaraz, who in the last few hours admitted that he had not played a racket for more than a week, demonstrated at all times the great relationship that unites him with Shelton; with whom he did not stop joking, trying to ‘unset’ him and laugh in each game.
On the court, a whole recital of improbable shots, ranging from volleys without an angle to hurried ‘willys’, in an exhibition tone that encouraged an enthusiastic audience before the hits of the two tennis players and in a very NBA show format; including gift raffles and the well-known ‘kiss cam’.
In the second set, the world number 3 expressed his superiority against Shelton (22 years old and number 21 in the ATP ranking) and seemed much more comfortable, moving his rival from one side to the other at the back of the court with powerful parallels .
Shelton’s impressive left blow, which he has hit at 241 kilometers per hour in his career (the sixteenth most powerful blow in history), found himself facing a much more energized Alcaraz as the minutes passed.
Finally, the player from Murcia also won 7-4 in a final tie-break, without previous games, in which the tennis players even let two fans who came down from the stands compete. Alcaraz had already beaten Shelton on the two previous occasions they had faced each other: in Toronto last year and in the Laver Cup this year.
The Murcian was the star everyone wanted to see, and – in addition to Shelton – the rest of the lineup was made up of New Yorkers Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, seventh and eighth respectively in the WTA ranking. In his exhibition match, Pegula, who reached the final of the last US Open, succumbed to his compatriot Navarro, a semi-finalist in that tournament, 6-7, 5-6.
#Alcaraz #defeats #Shelton #exhibition #match #York
