Carlos Alcaraz is showing himself to be stubborn on the American tour. After his brilliant Masters 1000 victory in Indian Wells, where he also did not drop a set, the Murcian arrived in Miami in top form and ready to defend the title he won last year and retain the number 1 ATP ranking.
So far he has two resounding wins in his first two games. Both against Facundo Bagnis (6-0, 6-3) and against Dusan Lajovic (6-0, 7-6) the Murcian showed great superiority from the start which allowed him to reach the round of 16 without difficulty.
From now on comes the moment of truth. This Tuesday (around 10pm) you’ll see faces with Tommy Paulone of the best players currently and who too became the great beast of spanish tennis in recent times.
And it was that the American has won the last 12 matches against Spanish playersincluding one with Rafa Nadal and another with Alcaraz himself.
His amazing streak began in May 2022, when he defeated Albert Ramos in the first round of the Masters 1000 in Rome, while Fernando Verdasco was his victim at Wimbledon.
In August the only confrontation between Paul and Alcaraz took place, in the second round of the Montreal Masters 1000. The Spaniard arrived in Canada full of games and lacking confidence after back-to-back defeats in the finals in Hamburg and Umag.
The transition from dirt to hard court did not go smoothly Alcaraz, who ended up bending his knee before pushing a Paul back from a set to take the victory 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-3.
The American would later defeat Bernabé Zapata at the US Open and Martín Landaluce and Nicolás Álvarez Varona at the Gijón tournament.
It was in November that the great escabechina came. The Masters 1000 of Paris-Bercy saw Tommy Paul break away from the competition, and Roberto Bautista, Rafa Nadal and Pablo Carreño followed suit. Only a very inspired Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals could block his way to the French capital.
The next big date is the last Australian Open, in January, where Paul achieved the feat of reaching the semifinals after leaving Roberto Bautista and Alejandro Davidovich in the ditch, among others, whom he lost again this Sunday in a third-round match at the Miami Open.
Alcaraz, on alert
“I lost the first and only match I played against Tommy, I knew he was a very talented playera top player, I have to play my best tennis and see what happens on Tuesday”, warned Alcaraz in an interview after his victory over Lajovic.
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“I watched a lot of his games, I like watching him play. He’s very talented, he makes things seem simple and I like watching these players. He’s very good, he’s fast, he hits hard with his forehand and backhand. I love playing these games, it will be challenging and I will definitely enjoy it.“added the number 1, knowing that he is obliged to win the tournament to retain the throne of world tennis.
If you manage to break the curse Spanish against Tommy Paul, Alcaraz they can be found in the rooms Finally, on Wednesday against the winner of the match between Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune, with Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev as the likely opponents in the semifinals.
On the other side of the box is Daniil Medvedev the great favorite to stand in the final and try to remove the thorn in Indian Wells.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
