The Murcian retires in the round of 16 at Wimbledon after a brilliant performance from the remarkable Italian server
Carlos Alcaraz saved five match points, recovered from two very poor sets and fought to the very end, close to an epic comeback in his debut at the center of Wimbledon. It was a bad day, the kind where you had to row and pray, the kind where the other got everything and you got nothing. It ended in defeat, against an immense Jannik Sinner (6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (8) and 6-3), but with the feeling that this is only the first of many battles and that center court in many more times to Alcaraz in the future.
The performance this Sunday was not good. There were too many unforced fouls, up to 39, fallbacks didn’t work, with five drop shots missed and only 50% points won at net. The worst was the effectiveness in the points of ‘break’. Alcaraz didn’t break Sinner’s serve once, in none of the seven chances he got. A mole that took him out of the game, because at any hot moment the transalpine managed to escape with his serve.
Of course he didn’t need too many solutions in the first two sets. Sinner was exquisite, had a veteran that didn’t suit him, and he wanted to show that all the credit for Alcaraz that has overshadowed him for the past few months deserves a parenthesis. Sinner was colossal here and Sinner deserved the chance to conquer the general public as he has already done to the Spaniards. His first two sets were a wake-up call, a wave of tennis that sent a message to his rival and to tennis. “Alcaraz is great, so am I.”
But the Italian still lacks a boiling point to resolve on the fast track. With victory close at hand, with the score 2-0 in favor, Sinner began to give ground, only to fail more. In the third set he made twelve unforced errors, while he remained at thirteen in the first and second set. Alcaraz leveled the game on the pitch and took it to a dramatic tiebreak, which alone made entry into the game worth it.
The Murcian led 6-3, lost three balls in the fourth set and ran into two match points. They were thrown by Sinner, embolic, and allowed Alcaraz to couple an early spectacular bounce to the net and a drag exchange to reach the set that brought him into the match.
His euphoria was unleashed and the audience accompanied him. He had a huge chance to come back from two sets behind for the first time in his life, saving match points, but Sinner withstood the downpour. They endured three very good first games of Alcaraz and re-established themselves as Imperial. He went in 4-1, bagging the win as he enjoyed three more match points at 5-2 and saved a tangle by serving for the game. He eliminated the final break point in favor of Alcaraz and sealed his place in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with a forehand cross midcourt.
The transalpine prevented Alcaraz from becoming the 13th Spaniard among the best eight in the tournament’s history and sat down to claim himself as the hope of the future. Sinner is also here and this Sunday’s game, the second of their rivalry, is just the start of a fight that promises to bring much joy to tennis. In time, Alcaraz’s will also arrive.
Source: La Verdad
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