Alcaraz takes a breath with a triumph of maturity, against Rublev and the cooling, to stay alive in Turin

Rublev, who beat him this past May in Madrid (4-6, 6-3 and 6-2), is a rocky player, who does not allow you to breathe because of these serves that he turns into rockets and because of the barrage of definitive blows that he tries from any point on the court, from any position, and the speed with which he loads them. I would almost say that he doesn’t think, that he only executes, to one side, to the other and to the one beyond. A premise that did not favor this Alcaraz with a respiratory strip in the nose as a resource to get some more air into the congested lungs.

Alcaraz is encouraged from the first point, trying to forget about that band-aid although without stopping to touch it from the first point as well. His team points out that he is a player of sensations, who needs to have everything right to be able to develop and look for a smile, perhaps still too concerned about whether everything is on point or not. But the Murcian is growing, faced with this very complicated situation of Rublev, on his own, and added to an unstable and stiff body from the inside, from which he emerges strengthened in character, in spirit and in the tournament.

The Murcian coughs and coughs behind the towel in each exchange, trying to scare away the viruses and attract the strength and spirit with which he faced this November of double final exam, with two Cups as a prize at the end of a wonderful course.

Alcaraz suffers from labored breathing when faced with the opponent’s powerful serves and long exchanges. But he lets out “let’s go” after “let’s go” during his games to continue exorcising that chill. The formula works, giving in to an exquisite drop shot and a forehand of his own in the seventh game to show that he can bite even if he can’t breathe.

The congested one is then Rublev. In theory he was going to face an Alcaraz at half speed and he gets tangled up alone in the frustration of not knowing how to overwhelm in long exchanges and his bet on the serve is met with a wall that the Murcian mounts almost above the line of background. There is no way out for the Russian, who concedes a second break to deliver the first set.

It is a breath of air for Alcaraz, grown because he is beating Rublev to half a lung. He stands out in the second chapter with a strengthening of the first service that allows him to take a breath without getting tired or worn out and he gasps as much as he can in the remains, where he finds air.

The stands wrap him in applause as if he were a towel, the Inalpi Arena delighted with the Murcian, who lets himself be loved with his superhuman effort at a point of taking the air away, from side to side, from net to bottom, from defense to defense who, however, loses due to an unforced error with the backhand when he had done everything most difficult. The Murcian smiles, crouching afterwards to try to catch a breath that is not enough, but that makes his chest swell with pride and applause.

And the smile expands, the band-aid is no longer necessary, because he finally feels liberated and the spectacle is a canister of oxygen: finger to the ear after overcoming another marathon of blows like missiles by the Russian to which he responds stiffly like chewing gum to the limit of effort. The stands, of course, respond in a big way and even with a “Carlitos, marry me!”

The Russian presses again with his services, but Alcaraz is also freed with his own. No one takes a break, the match was so electric that Rublev had to change a shoe, broken in one of the fiery exchanges that took the match to a frenetic tie break.

The one whose breath was held was the public, waiting from one side to the other, with options for both sides, with two set points for Rublev, with a double fault from Alcaraz, with a match point from Alcaraz, with a ball to the line by millimeters from Rublev and with a big smile for Alcaraz when the right completed the challenge of beating two rivals: the Russian and the cooling. Alcaraz grows in his career, understanding that he will not always be perfect to face the matches, but that he can still develop his tennis and spread a smile.