Rain forced Alcaraz to suspend the match with 6-4 and 5-3

A very heavy downpour Rio de Janeiro was forced to suspend the match Carlos Alcaraz when the Murcian is just one game away from beating the local tennis player Mateus Alves: 6-4 and 5-3 after 1h.49′ of fighting on clay.

The Murcian, 19 years old and world number 2, reached Brazil after lifting his 7th ATP trophy on Sunday in Buenos Aireshis reappearance on the circuit after a three-month layoff due to two horse injuries in 2022 and 2023.

In the Argentine tournament he finished with a great sensation in the final match Cameron Norriebut Alcaraz entered the Rio title defense looking uncomfortable for most of the match, lacking the spark and continuity that often annihilates their opponents.

However, from less to more, Carlos found solutions to counter the momentum and illusion of Alves, 22 years old and 556th in the ranking, taking advantage of the organization’s invitation to let loose in front of his fans and a rival in great pedigree like the Spaniards.

🔥 🔥 @RioOpenOfficial | #RioOpen | @carlosalcaraz pic.twitter.com/GAYbvhmhW4

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 21, 2023

“>

gg.didomi.doWhenConsent(!window.didomiBypass, ‘c:twitterwi-wUmBnnKy’, function () {
var x = document.createElement(‘script’);
x.setAttribute(“type”,”text/javascript”);
x.setAttribute(“src”, “//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”);
x.setAttribute(“charset”, “utf-8”);
$(“.twitter-tweet”).closest( “span” ).append(x);
});

In his first encounter in a major ATP draw, Alves was the first to break Alcaraz’s serve (0-2), but the Murcian responded immediately, immediately returning the break (1-2) and then getting another in the seventh (4). -3) that put the first round in his favor (6-4).

Backed by good first-serve percentages, the Brazilian kept Alcaraz on the pulse in the second set, even as the reigning World Cup champion US Open he breaks serve (3-2). Alves responded with another quick break (3-3) before the game suffered a brief stoppage due to the threat of a typhoon and the expulsion of some spectators.

After a few minutes of confusion, the match continued in the longest game of the clash which ended in another break in favor of Alcaraz (4-3). The player from Murcia made it 5-3, on the verge of victory, but the water suddenly began to fall heavily and the game was suspended until further notice, although the intensity of the downpour was predicted to take time to continue as the track was left flooded for only a few minutes.