Carlos Alcaraz began his career in the Masters 1,000 in Rome with a solvent victory in his debut against Albert Ramos (6-4 and 6-1) in 1 hour and 25 minutes of meeting. Double prize for Carlitos at the Foro Itálico: his pass to the third round of the prestigious Italian tournament and his return to number one in the ATP ranking, making sure he reached Roland Garros above Novak Djokovic.
The match began three and a half hours late with respect to the scheduled time due to the rain, which is expected to continue to be the protagonist in this Masters 1,000 in Rome for the next few days.
The rain was pouring down at the Foro Itálico when both players took to the court for the Spanish second round duel. Albert Ramos began adapting better to the changing conditions, with a track that was heavier and more irregular than usual, and struck the first ‘break’ in the first service game for an Alcaraz that started erratically. The Murcian could not find the sensations with his blows, but he knew how to stand firm and returned the break with the 2-1 in favor of the Catalan.
With the track wet and heavy, Alcaraz abused the drop shots as the most practical way to close the points against a well-planted Ramos on the track. Equality was the dominant note of the first round until 5-4, when Carlitos was more accurate. He lowered the percentage of unforced errors, managed his game better from the bottom of the court, taking advantage of a mistake with Albert Ramos’s forehand to wrest serve from Barcelona again and win the first set 6-4.
Alcaraz maintained the positive dynamic at the end of the first set and gave Ramos another ‘break’ at the start of the second set. The Catalan began to fail more and stopped being so comfortable to the rest as at the beginning of the duel. For his part, Alcaraz did not lose concentration at any time. He got loose with his forehand and punished Albert Ramos’ backhand, who could do little in the face of the gale of tennis that the Murcian showed in the second set. Another break with 4-1 for the number one in the world, who played the final stretch of the game at will.
Alcaraz closed his last service turn in white to close the second set with a resounding 6-1. The Murcian is already in the third round, where he expects a rival between the Czech Jiri Lehecka and the Hungarian Fabián Marozsán. A prori, an affordable third round for the Spaniard, who has the primary objective in Rome of doing the best possible role in his first participation in Italy as the new number one in the world.
Bernabé Zapata continues on a roll
Bernabé Zapata continues to show that he is in the best moment of his career. The Valencian player defeated the Australian Jason Kubler in the second round of the Masters 1,000 in Rome (6-4 and 6-1).
Zapata, who was seeded for the first time in Italy at the age of 26, thus confirms his great form after his positive result in Madrid, where he lost to Tsitsipas in the round of 16.
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