2023-10-31 23:33:26
The season, there is no doubt, is getting long for Carlos Alcaraz, who was wrecked in two sets in his debut in Paris-Bercy against Roman Safiullin and will arrive at the ATP Finals in Turin (November 12 to 19) already far from the number one from Novak Djokovic and riddled with doubts.
[Narración: Así hemos contado el Safiullin-Alcaraz]
End-of-year events always lend themselves to surprises. In Paris, Holger Rune, current champion, Karen Khachanov, Jack Sock, Robin Soderling and David Ferrer himself, the only Spaniard on the list, debuted their Masters 1,000 record. And the end of October in Paris, with its hard court, its roof and its LED lights, is nothing like, for example, the earthly Paris of June. Rafa Nadal knows this well, as he has never been able to win at Omnisports in his entire career.
Nor is it, at the moment, a favorable scenario for Alcaraz, who last year had to retire in the quarterfinals against Rune, and who is once again suffering on that stage.
The talent from El Palmar has not won a tournament since winning Wimbledon and has not reached a final since Cincinnati in August. In between, some drop in game and many other physical problems. Most immediately, he lost in the round of 16 in Shanghai to Grigor Dimitrov and then was forced to stop. Ailments in his left ankle and lower back kept him away from Basel.
On his return he had to sweat hard against an opponent he had never faced before. Safiullin, 26 years old and 45th in the ranking, has taken a leap in quality this season. He was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon and last September reached the first final of his career in Chengdu (China), where he lost to Alexander Zverev.
In Paris he stood up from the start despite initial nerves that led him to commit two consecutive double faults that cost him the first break. Alcaraz not only did not know how to maintain it, but he let himself go with an erratic game, which had plenty of errors and lacked punch, and gave up the initiative of the set in the eighth game. The worst thing is that there were no gestures of anger or rage in the Murcian, and that was perhaps the worst symptom.
The comeback was not easy, but it cannot be said that Alcaraz did not try. At the beginning of the second set he added as many winning points as in the entire previous set to lead 3-1. But Safiullin was not overcome by vertigo. Two consecutive breaks put him ahead again. Alcaraz, after so many facilities granted, was obliged to the epic. Maybe at another time he would have achieved it. But not now. He has to think about Turin.
#Alcaraz #shipwrecks #premiere #ParisBercy