Carlos Alcaraz raises his arms in triumph as the clock reached 2:23 in the morning in New York and the record was just three minutes short of the championship record-equalling. He’s beaten and Marin Cilic, his biggest rival. The Croatian tank was emptied in the last part of the grueling crossing that the Spaniard managed to avoid based on a lot of heads: 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, after 3 hours 54 m. “Honestly, I don’t know how you did it,” he says. “I believed in myself the whole time,” he adds, holding a room ticket in hand. In them he will match the Italian Yannick Sener, beating Ilya Ivashka (6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6 and 6-3), and if nothing goes wrong, he will be his traveling companion. Litigation to control the next lifetime. Another massive hero project.
The two met three times. The first time was last season in Bercy, where the Spaniard signed the win; But this year, it was Sener (21 years and 13th in the world) who succeeded in the two crusaders they starred in, the last two: one in the round of 16 at Wimbledon and the other at Umag. ultimate. Reunion promises. Alcaraz equals the level reached in the previous version and, having already eliminated Rafael Nadal, retains the options to climb to first place; He will do so if he wins the title on Sunday or if he goes down in the final and Casper Rudd, the other opponent, is not around. But above all, he had to dodge a minefield.
“You had to be there, pushing you all the time,” he analyzes in front of reporters, before retiring to the hotel to complete his recovery. “It’s better to win three [sets], obviously, but that would give me a lot of confidence because it tells me I can hold out there and win matches for four hours. He tells me I’m in good shape physically and mentally and I’m interested in tennis,” he adds after winning his sixth in the seven commitments in five sets he’s played so far.
The party thaws out its best cartridges in the first division before speculation prevails. The two get into a melee until Cilic gradually takes a step back, realizing that in give and take always ends in loss. Alcaraz has two or three other gears in his legs and more generous ammo, so after Murcian shuts down two intense points in the net and puts the central crowd in his pocket, Balkan shoots cleverly by virtue of his position to keep the pulse forced to practice the board which the Spaniards reluctantly accept, as he suffers from vertigo.
Master of patience
Cilic is very weak as the serve is 30% effective with the first time in the initial set, so he must correct because otherwise, he knows the fate of the night is written. The Croat (1.98 long, lever kilometer) adjusts the peephole and takes out the pen, and from there begins to balance and stop Alcaraz’s reckless exit. Transran is played, frantically, in a strategic quagmire that benefits the veteran and requires moderation from the Spaniard. If he speeds up a bit and tries to solve it in the first three hits, the result of the point is usually out of reach. You have to chew it.
“There is no rush, Carlitos, there is no rush!” reminds him of can His coach is Juan Carlos Ferrero. Sometimes he cares about formatting and other times he doesn’t. His tennis nature is one-way and this year of blasting, promotion, and trophies—four titles, more wins (48) than any other—is also studying a master’s degree in patience. Learning to ruminate will also lead to a lot of wins, and even more so in long-distance events like this one. He responds to Selech’s innate approach with a hybrid cold that gives and takes away, though rainfall weighs down the competitor and directs him to where he cares.
Alkaraz orders, first set pocket first and then 2-1 later, but in the fourth set, these terrible advisors play a trick on him, the rush, making him lose focus and deprive him of succulent loot: the seven options fly from rest time This is desired and grows the Croatian. The stats also say that the five sets are fairly comfortable terrain for Cilic, with a tally of just nine wins and two losses under this shape in New York. The emergency light goes out when the 2014 champion gives Arreón and snatches the serve, but the Balkan lights suddenly go out. melted.
“Try to make him uncomfortable to send! To body to body! Love him kick [bote alto] Right, let’s see what happens! ‘Advises Ferrero, who never loses his impartiality in the face of any kind of storm. He makes a request. For the rest, he delays the situation to the wall and to serve, throws the dummy. When in doubt, always, the ball is inside. That’s how many games are won Thus, he ties up a four-match streak and draws a final emotional chasm that finally breaks down for Cilic and leads her to the quarter-finals in New York once again with a head-and-head victory.
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