Carlos Alcaraz (number 2 in the ranking) poured a good portion of his creativity and explosion onto the brick dust of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, the most emblematic tournament of the South American tour of slow courts. The Murcian returned to Argentina a year after having won the Buenos Aires title, debuted as first seed directly in the round of 16 and, although he did not shine as usual, it was enough for him to surpass Camilo Ugo Carabelli in speed and resources ( 134°) by 6-2 and 7-5, in 1h44m. The Italian Andrea Vavassori (152nd, since the classification) will be the rival of the Wonder Boy in the quarterfinals, this Friday.
Sleeveless T-shirt, yellow on the front, white on the back; black shorts, white sneakers and socks, green wristband. The two-time Grand Slam champion (US Open 2022 and Wimbledon 2023), applauded from start to finish, played his first official match since losing in the Australian quarterfinals to Alexander Zverev, on the 24th of last month. Furthermore, he had not competed on clay since July last year, in the new edition of the Hopman Cup, in Nice. After his excursion through Melbourne he rehearsed and dyed his socks orange at a club in Murcia. The speed of his shots and the timely combination with drop shots did not hide his ups and downs or his inaccuracy in holding the serve.
In front of some 5,500 people (the tubular grandstand of 850 spectators set up especially for the occasion was completed), Alcaraz had a cold start to the match, giving up his serve, including a double fault. But the Spaniard recovered immediately (1-1). Incredible: new breaks occurred in the third and fourth games (2-2). Carlitos, accompanied by his coach, Mosquito Juan Carlos Ferrero (2010 Buenos Aires ATP champion), clenched his fist and accelerated from that moment on. He showed off a couple more marches, unattainable for Ugo Carabelli, who was never intimidated by such a challenge. The European star achieved new breaks in the sixth game (4-2) and in the eighth (6-2), closing the first set in 34 minutes. From 2-1 in his favor, the Argentine barely managed to gain six points. He suffered a bulldozer.
One of the best points of the game
Ugo Carabelli, who surpassed the qualification and in the first round of the main draw dismissed the brave Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas, began by breaking Alcaraz’s serve in the second set (1-0) and then held serve for the first time in the match (2-0). Camilo, trained – and promoted – for less than a year by Carlos Berlocq, looked for options, but Alcaraz reacted quickly, reaching every shot of the Argentine. Alcaraz impacted with the strength of his right hands, made even more impressive by the exclamation at each hit. The Spaniard achieved a break in the fourth game (2-2) and, after his turn of service, took the lead (3-2).
Before Sergio’s eyes Tiny Romero and Guillermo Coria, among other sports personalities, Alcaraz did not stop his clean and jerk. He broke Ugo Carabelli’s serve again, who at that point could no longer hide some errors due to the tension and helplessness that his rival surely caused him. Alcaraz served for a set (5-3), went 0-30, came back, had a match point but, surprisingly, the Buenos Aires player broke his serve again (4-5), putting the match on hold. Alcaraz had a second match point with Ugo Carabelli serving, but he couldn’t take advantage. The Argentine finally held his serve (5-5) and raised the audience, who did not hesitate to give him a standing ovation.
Alcaraz felt the impact. Gordo Camilo, with his spirits through the roof, won three points in a row, putting Carlitos against the ropes, 0-40, but the player born in El Palmar (Murcia) showed courage and determination, he held his serve (6-5) and he let out his anger with a ‘Vamooos!’ before going to rest (Ferrero stood up to encourage him. It was the Argentine’s turn to take off and Alcaraz gave Camilo no respite, he obtained the four points and closed a night that was more demanding than expected.
“I am very happy to return to Buenos Aires. The affection of the people here is special, I had felt it last year and I really wanted to return. It was a very difficult victory, because Camilo is a very complicated player, who has a great future. But I am happy to have resolved it,” said Alcaraz, who said goodbye to the central court until this Friday.
“It was a great game. At first he was half asleep, I had no idea who I was going to face. I played against a top ten team only once. Afterwards I was able to let go, at times we played evenly, obviously he is another level, he is crack. The match will give me a lot of confidence to continue,” said Ugo Carabelli. And he highlighted Alcaraz: “His right hand is impressive, he comes very strong. Everything else didn’t surprise me. He is a crack. I have been playing pretty well. There are shots I make in the Challengers that don’t come back like they did today.”
The result also allowed Alcaraz to go 5-1 on the season and reach 160 matches won in his career on the ATP Tour, establishing himself as the third most successful player born in this century in the category, only surpassed by Jannik Sinner (199) and Felix Auger Aliassime (189).
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