The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, number two in the world and main seed, defeated the Serbian this Friday Dusan Lajovic (80th) and qualified for the semifinals of the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro.
The 19-year-old Iberian made progress in his goal of defending the title he won in 2022 by winning 6-4 and 7-6 (6/0), in a game played for one hour and 54 minutes on clay from the main field of the Jockey Club.
Alcaraz, that on Sunday won the Buenos Aires Openwhere they also eliminated the Balkan in the quarterfinals, the pass to the final will be played on Saturday.
His rival will be the winner of the series between the Chilean Nicolás Jarry and the Argentine Sebastián Báez (N.6), who close the fifth day.
The other semifinal will face the British Cameron Norrie (N.2), from whom the Iberian pearl snatched the title in Argentina, with the Spanish Bernabé Zapata.
«It has been a very difficult match, Dusan has a great forehand, a great backhand, a great serve, very good shots, and today he has shown it, he has given a recital. But hey, I’ve been solid. In the end, very happy to have solved those problems“said the youth.
The duel was traced during two moments: in both sets, Lajovic broke his rival’s serve in the fifth game, to go ahead 2-3.
But three games later, in both innings, the Spanish tennis prodigy did the same to tie the sets at 4-4.
However, he pocketed the first set by winning four consecutive games after breaking the Serb’s serve for the first time, while in the second he needed more time because his serve was neutralized again (5-6), which then forced the ‘tie break’.
«In those moments is where the very good ones differ from the rest of the players, and I try to play at my highest level. In my head I say to myself ‘Charlie, try to do magic’, and at least it takes my nerves away from making a difficult point, “he said.
The victory in a match with an exciting epilogue brings Alcaraz back to first place in the world ranking, of which he has been its youngest occupant.
The Iberian man appropriated it for twenty weeks, until the Serbian Novak Djokovic displaced him at the end of January after winning his tenth Australian Open.
If he repeats the title in the ‘wonderful city’, he will tie Djokovic, who nevertheless will continue as number one for having more points in the mandatory tournaments.
In addition, it would be the second crown since he returned to competition in the Argentine capital, after having overcome physical problems that had kept him off the fields since last November.
The final of the Rio Open, the main tennis tournament in South America, will be held on Sunday.