Alcaraz is already in the round of 16 of the Miami Masters 1,000. The number one in the world came undone without forcing Dusan Lajovic 6-0 and 7-6 (7/5) in 92 minutes. Now American Tommy Paul awaits you that in the only duel between the two, last year in Montreal, he beat the Murcian.
At less than 20 years old, Alcaraz is already a nightmare for some players. The Serbian Lajovic is one of them. Four games and as many defeats. The first was in Australia last year and this year he has already suffered in Buenos Aires, Rio and Miami. “I can’t compare him with Roger, Novak and Rafa, but he has something unique and it’s how much he likes to be in a maximum pressure situation. He has very good shots, intuition and feels the ball in a spectacular way, but the most important thing and what What sets him apart from the rest is how he is able to bring out his best game in difficult moments. He enjoys the environment and grows, he is much more mature than his age indicates”, says the Balkan. The reflection was before his game in the state of Florida. In Miami, Carlitos has not felt pressure so far nor has he had a difficult moment despite the fact that Lajovic managed to extend the second set until the tiebreaker.
Because until then the third round had been a walk for the number one in the world. The Miami plant has nothing to do with the Indian Wells plant. In California the track was very slow compared to the one at Hard Rock Stadium. Alcaraz is delighted with the speed increase. He enjoyed the first Masters 1,000 and is doing so in the second. He had break balls in Lajovic’s first three serves and signed as many breaks to take the first set in 32 minutes and with a donut included. The man from Belgrade held on to the court to win a tie-break in the second set. A break in the tenth game gave him the prize of being on the track for a while longer. In the tiebreaker he resisted to the limit, but a two-handed crossed backhand from Carlitos ended the discussion..
The last to join the “Alcarazmania” has been former player Greg Rusedski. The British gunner is now a prestigious analyst and his reflection on the Murcian is that emphatic: “The first time I saw him play I thought he needed to improve his physique and serve a bit, and he already has. I don’t see any weaknesses in him “It’s like putting together the Big 3 in one tennis player. I’ve never seen a 19-year-old boy as complete as he is and now he’s progressed tactically as well. The way he smashed Medvedev in the Indian Wells final was unbelievable. We were all worried about what would happen when the Big 3 was over. Well, Carlitos has shown up.” The next challenge is Tommy Paul.
Paul, the nightmare of Spanish tennis
Paul beat Alejandro Davidovich 6-3, 7-5. The American extends his streak of consecutive victories against Spanish players to twelve, three of which have arrived this year after last year he already defeated Alcaraz in Montreal and Nadal in the Masters 1,000 in Paris. Paul, number 19 in the world ranking, repeated his victory at the Australian Open against Davidovich, when he prevailed in five sets. Finalist this year in Acapulco and semifinalist in Australia, Paul defeated a Davidovich who had made the quarterfinals in Indian Wells.
The fragility in Davidovich’s serve marked the development of the match. If in the first set he gave it up twice, in the second Paul had breaking balls in five of the six services of the Spaniard.