Second exhibition, second victory for Carlos Alcaraz in just 24 hours

Just 24 hours after defeating the Serbian Novak Djokovic (1st) in an exhibition at Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) (4-6, 6-4, 6-4), Carlos Alcaraz (2nd) also lost Roberto Bautista in another friendly match at Murcia Sports Palacein the so-called Cup Carlos Alcaraz7-6 (1), 1-6 and 10-7 in the third set tiebreaker supertiebreak.

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Born in El Palmar (Murcia)the current world number 2, 20 years old, has dazzled his countrymen with his game, including another famous Murcian like former cyclist Alejandro Valverde.

Alcaraz is focused Australian OpenWhat to celebrate in Melbourne from January 14 to 28. He missed the previous edition due to a physical muscle problem. This will also be his official entry into 2024, as he does not plan to play any official ATP tournaments before facing the first grand slam it is from time.

Alcaraz won the First Cup that bears his name by beating Roberto Bautista from Castellón 7-6 (1), 1-6 and 10-7 in 1 hour and 53 minutes in a packed Murcia Sports Palace of explosion for the occasion. of this exhibition match organized by the Autonomous Community and the Tennis Federation of the Region of Murcia at Christmas time.

The Murcian, winner of 12 ATP titles, two Grand Slam titles, US Open 2022 and Wimbledon’2023played at home a day after facing and defeating Serbian Novak Djokovic.

Having just arrived from Saudi Arabia, he faced a fighting opponent and did his best. 1,726 days have passed since he played his last match in Murcia, at the 2019 ATP Challenger Costa Cálida, and the presence of the newly elected Best Spanish Athlete of 2023 arouses extraordinary anticipation. So how much can that be? 7,500 seats are sold for this event at the Palacio de los Deportes they sold out in less than an hour and a half.

It was a solidarity meeting – the money raised went to charity – and a great opportunity to see Carlitos, at the age of 20, hit the ball at home against a veteran rival, 35 and ranked 57th in the ranking. ATP – third Spaniard after Alcaraz and the man from Malaga Alexander Davidovich-.

Alcaraz, up 15-40, scored in the first game of the match but it soon became clear that Bautista was not willing to be just a guest at the party and tied the score by winning his blank serve and then, to others, he there were 30-40 that didn’t materialize.

The one from La Plana, who was number 9 on the list in November 2019 and has accumulated 11 individual titles as a professional, will not have it easy for his partner in the Spanish Davis Cup team. In fact, they tied for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th on the fast track set up at the Palace.

Fronton Bautista fought the Alcaraz cyclone, less than usual, even leaving points typical of a player of his class.

In a festive atmosphere – “come, luxury!” and “marry me!”, they even said to Carlos, to which he responded with laughter – the match continued very evenly and Bautista had his fourth and fifth breaking points. to go 5-6. He didn’t take advantage of them either because three good serves from the Palmar native saved him from trouble.

He was about to break to win the set but Castellon He stayed strong, threw the ball in the air and forced a tie break at 6-6. In sudden death, Alcaraz’s superiority was clear and he left his best for that outcome which ended with a clear 7-1 in his favor and several points in 1 hour and 2 minutes of battle.

The second round began when Bautista jabbed again and, since he served first, he took the initiative. He then went 0-40 ahead and, at 30-40, finally broke Alcaraz’s serve with his eighth break point of the match.

The problem represented by 0-2 in the set was quickly solved by El Palmar by taking advantage of the first break option he had with a good forehand. However, he mixed up and lost serve again to an opponent who never lost steam and went 1-4 up, putting up two break points against him.

A new break and a serve won with authority by Bautista tied the Castellón player in sets after another 37 minutes of the match.

That resulted in a supertiebreak, which is how this 1st Carlos Alcaraz Cup will be decided. That last match Bautista started with his positive inertia (0-1 and 1-2 and 2-3) and the temperature of the match rose and so did the tennis of Alcaraz, who reached 9-3 with seven consecutive points. The man from Castellón made four in a row when he seemed lost to give him excitement at the end (9-7) but the Murcian closed it with a winning backhand after another 14 minutes.

With two victories in or in these two exhibitions and no time for a long break, he is already thinking about the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season. In that major, the student of Juan Carlos Ferrero will have the start of the new year, although he will not be by his side because the Ontenente player is recovering from an operation on his left knee.

With that appointment, which is in 2024, Carlos arrives with the goal of continuing to grow in his tennis to fight for number 1 with Djokovic and knowing that behind him there is Daniel MedvedevJannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune and others are chasing.