Thursday, August 10, 2023, 07:50
New tour, new surface and Carlos Alcaraz himself. The Murcian complied this Wednesday (Spanish early Thursday morning) to get rid of Ben Shelton, the new hope of American tennis, in his debut at the Canadian Masters (6-3 and 7-6 (3)). It was his first ATP match since the historic triumph at Wimbledon that closed a season of immaculate grass, without setbacks. The three weeks off, therefore, have not made a dent in his game and the winning streak is now at 13 (15 if the Hopman Cup is added).
Alcaraz is going for his third consecutive tournament, although the main mission in Toronto, and later in Cincinnati, is to adapt again to concrete, a surface that he has not stepped on for four months. He does not usually need a lot of filming in El Palmar to complete his set-up, but he arrived in Canada warned by his defeat last year at the first exchange against Tommy Paul.
The infield draw also doubled down on that notice by pairing him up with Ben Shelton, another cheeky 20-year-old. As expected, he was not a comfortable adversary in the first game after changing surfaces, always treacherous. But Alcaraz imposed his extraordinary maturity in a duel between tennis players of the same generation. In the first set, after saving three ‘break’ balls, he took advantage of his first break options. He did not give up the serve throughout the game and decided the game in the ‘tie-break’ of the second, another aspect of the game in which he has evolved remarkably since his arrival on the circuit.
Alcaraz will not have time to relax because in the third round he is waiting one day later (1:00 am in the Spanish morning from Thursday to Friday) Hubert Hurkacz. It is not being a positive year for the Pole, who has come out of the ‘top-10’, but on hard court his powerful serve is a height test to measure the current state of the number 1 in the world.
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