2023-08-11 04:50:27
Carlos Alcaraz suffered this Thursday but finished coming back in the round of 16 of the Toronto Masters 1,000 against the Polish giant Hubert Hurkacz, whom he defeated 3-6, 7-6(2) and 7-6(3) in two hours and 38 minutes. The number one in the world, who won his last two tournaments in a row (Queens and Wimbledon), accumulates with this 14 victories in a row (not counting the Hopman Cup).
Alcaraz, who lost in the second round on Canadian soil last year, will face this Friday in the quarterfinals the winner of the cross between the Americans Tommy Paul -his executioner last year in this tournament- and Marcus Giron. The man from El Palmar now has a record of 49-4 in 2023 with six titles this year (the best in the ATP in both records).
Hurkacz, number 17 in the world and who was very close to surprising tonight, and Alcaraz had only met on one occasion until today: in the semifinals of the Masters 1,000 in Miami in 2022, where the Spanish prevailed.
After this tournament in Toronto, Alcaraz will continue with his training on hard courts in North America and will face the Cincinnati Masters 1,000 next week before going to New York to defend his US Open crown.
Another Spaniard will also be in the Toronto quarters: Alexander Davidovichwho beat the Norwegian Casper Ruud on Thursday and will play a place in the semifinals against the American Mackenzie McDonald.
lack of rhythm
As in his debut on Wednesday in Toronto (6-3 and 7-6 against the American Ben Shelton), Alcaraz sinned tonight for lack of rhythm and consistency in his tennis, something to be expected after his break after Wimbledon with the exception of the Hopman Cup. Alcaraz began to accumulate unforced errors practically from the beginning and conceded the ‘break’ in his first service turn, which left the Pole, very safe and powerful with his serve, with a 0-3 in his favor in less than ten meeting minutes.
The Murcian warmed up little by little, improving with his forehand and gaining some confidence in his game from the back of the court. But Hurkacz, with a height of 1.96 and finalist of this tournament last year (he lost to the Spanish Pablo Carreño), did not show any weakness in a very solid first set, solved two ‘break’ balls with 1-3 and put the direct to score the first set 3-6 in 32 minutes.
After a first set with seven unforced errors, Alcaraz also began the second with doubts and mistakes against a Hurkacz who began to believe that he could seal a victory of many carats in Toronto. The Pole fearlessly climbed into the net to break the Spaniard’s serve at the opening of the second set, but Alcaraz reacted by returning the ‘break’ and winning the game afterwards to take the lead (2-1). He was still not one hundred percent, as he alternated moments of frustration with splendid moments of grit and fantastic tennis. But Alcaraz equalized in that second set against a Hurkacz who no longer seemed so insurmountable with his first serve.
The Murcian wasted two ‘break’ balls with 3-2 in his favor and his rival couldn’t break his serve either, so the set went to a ‘tie break’. It was then, at the moment of greatest tension, where Alcaraz’s great catalog finally shone, as he combined forehands and layups with great aplomb to closing the second set with a thunderous “let’s go!” and force a third set.
Hurkacz’s resistance seemed to end there, as he accused the wasted chances in the second set and fell significantly. Instead, Alcaraz fully grew as if a huge weight had been removed from him, he pressed the accelerator with his right and, now with his machinery at full capacity, he broke his rival’s serve twice (5-2 ). However, the curves did not end for the Spaniard, who wasted two match points and conceded two consecutive ‘break’ when he served to win with everything in his favor (5-5). Back in the lane of suffering, Alcaraz had to recover his best forehand to force the ‘tie break’ and, after an evening of countless moments of cold sweat, he was finally able to raise his arms and breathe easy at finish his fifth match point.
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