Carlos Alcaraz take another step in the final phase of his set-up for Australian Open which starts this Sunday and He clearly defeated the Australian Alexei Popyrin (6-3 and 6-4), in the second and final preparatory match before the start of the first Grand Slam of the season.
The Murcian, number three in the worldwhich will begin his journey to the tournament table with the Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko In the first round next Monday, he showed signs of improvement compared to the clash two days ago, against the local Alex de Minaur, where he lost 7-5, 4-6 and 10-5.
Alcaraz He had not played any tournaments at the start of the course. His preparation was reduced to these two friendly matches against Australian players on the stage of the first Grand Slam of the course, in Rod Laver Arenaas happened this Friday.
The Murcian, who faces his fourth participation in the only major missing from his recordmade another move against Popyrin, whom he defeated the only time they met, in Winston Salem, in 2021.
Alcaraz points to the Australian Open where he had his best performance last year, when he reached the quarterfinals and lost in four sets to German Alexander Zverev, second player in the world.
The Spaniard began a head-to-head battle with Popyrin, tied until the fifth game of the first set when the Murcian earned his first break. Steady on serve after, he kept the imbalance and He closed the set 6-3.
Carlos Alcaraz did not lower his level and continued the dynamic that led him to better start the second set. He soon broke down and suddenly had a 3-0 lead. However, the expected reaction came from the local player. Popyrin improved and threatened the Spanish serve. At 4-2 for Alcaraz came his rival’s breakthe first of the match, which is 4-3 and the service. He took advantage of this and ended the imbalance. It is tied at four.
is the worst Spanish moment who later again jeopardized the service he had taken after several threats from Popyrin. Alcaraz then took a breather in these moments of chaos and made it 5-4.
Alcaraz fought back, closing out the game for the rest and sealing his first victory in 2025.
The Murcian now focuses on the competition and the start of the Australian Open and his fight with Alexander Shevchenko at the beginning of the a trip that would see Novak Djokovic in a possible quarterfinal and Alexander Zverev, in a hypothetical semifinal.
Source: La Verdad
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