The Spanish Carlos Alcarazfirst seed, the 100th victory of his career on the ATP circuit last morning at the age of 19, by defeating the Dutchman 7-6(4) and 6-3 Tallon Griekspoor and qualify for the round of 16 Indian Wells Masters 1000.
The Dutchman hits Tallon Griekspoor they averaged 125 kilometers per hour in the first set, but Alcaraz He knew how to stop his rival’s good start and met in the round of 16 with the British Jack Draperexecutioner of his countrymen andy murray.
The Murcian, number two in the world and early favorite in the California desert before the loss of Serbian Novak Djokovic, sealed victory in one hour and 41 minutes.
He is the second fastest player to reach one hundred wins on the ATP tour with a record of 100-32, after John McEnroe, who did it in one fewer match.
After easily eliminating Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis on his debut, Alcaraz overcame a more difficult obstacle and returned to showing good signs on a physical level, after a hamstring injury cost him the final of the Rio tournament against British Cameron Norrie .
The Murcian, who reached the top ranking position with his US Open title and is now number two, can return to number one with a win in Indian Wells, without Novak Djokovic.
The Serb is not participating in Indian Wells because he cannot enter the United States due to his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Alcaraz was a semifinalist last year at ‘Tennis Paradise’ before being crowned in Miami in the first of his two Masters 1,000s. He will win shortly after in Madrid, in addition to Rio and Barcelona, and put the icing on the cake in New York, when he raises the first ‘big’ in his career in the sky and becomes number one in the world.
First set of high demand
Griekspoor made it clear that he needed to push his shots to the maximum to put Alcaraz in trouble and in the first set the Dutchman managed to push the Murcian to the limit.
His forehand averaged over 130 km/h speed and his backhand traveled an average of 122 km/h.
Alcaraz needs patience and concentration, not to get frustrated and not to give his serve a chance. He did it with maturity, playing long points, defending when necessary, and settled the first set in a tiebreaker after 59 minutes of real competition.
He signed a good backhand through the first point and escaped 4-2 with a perfect drop, before ruling out the set decisively 7-4.
It was a psychological blow for Griekspoor, who began to show signs of nervousness in the second set and lost serve in the first turn.
Alcaraz saved two breaking balls with a 2-0 lead and sealed the match with his serve for the final 6-3.
Draper exam
Alcaraz will now face Draper, the great hope of British tennis, who knocked out his compatriot Andy Murray 7-6(5) 6-2 in a spectacular match.
The Murcian won the only precedent against Draper, number 56 in the world ranking, last year in Basel, in three sets.
Former NBA players, German Dirk Nowitzki, champion in 2011 with the Dallas Mavericks, and his friend Steve Nash, were in the presidential box watching the game.
Source: La Verdad
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