2023-04-21 19:08:03
Carlos Alcaraz suffered, but passed the round. The Murcian had his toughest test of the week in Barcelona against a feisty Alejandro Davidovich, whom he defeated 7-6 (5) and 6-4 to return a year later to the semifinals of the Conde de Godó.
The man from Malaga, in his first appearance in a quarterfinal in Barcelona, put up a tough battle that lasted for more than two hours in which he appealed, with his unpredictable tennis, to a much less spectacular version of Alcaraz, who committed up to 41 unforced errors and had another day to forget the serve. He barely hit 56% first serves and was broken three times. The Murcian still has things to refine if he wants to repeat the title on the Rafa Nadal court this Sunday.
Despite the circumstances, Alcaraz is in a good position for it. He threatened to take off once and for all this week, with a solid start, breaking Davidovich’s serve in the first game, but the doubts on serve were still there, as against Bautista this Thursday.
Davidovich, who resisted from the bottom and who needed a good result here after the disaster in Monte Carlo -where he defended last year’s final-, twice equaled the disadvantage with Alcaraz. First from 3-1 to 3-3 and later from 5-3 to 5-6, after Alcaraz made a mistake when serving to win the first set.
Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil was frustrated, who even threatened to throw the racket against the court, a gesture rarely -or never- seen in him. When he lost all three points in a row in the tie break, he couldn’t resist anymore and he threw the racket on the clay. Not excessively violent, but enough to show that he wasn’t having a good time.
Davidovich resisted
However, Davidovich is not a tennis player who capitalizes on those situations. A 1-3 income slipped through his hands and he gave away the tiebreaker with a ball to the wall. Breath of calm for the man from El Palmar, who solved the most complicated situation of the week and envisioned a second set that was not as easy as he thought.
Alcaraz needed to get six breaking points out of the way in the third game. All saved, despite the fact that the right was being a strainer -eight winners and 20 unforced errors-. That game on the limit gave stability to the Murcian, who once again seized a 3-1 lead and let it slip away again. Davidovich left a throwback volley to remember that even made Alcaraz smile and refused to break away from the match, as he was in the fray until his nerves took their toll.
Alcaraz, far from accelerating, remained at the trantran, until the tenth game, when with 5-4 in favor of Davidovich doubts entered. In the psychological game, the Andalusian allowed two match balls and, although the first one escaped the Spaniard, a rod from Foki, as Davidovich is affectionately known, sealed his victory and settled another duel between Spaniards for Alcaraz. He has won 17 matches against compatriots (at ATP level) and has only lost three.
His next rival this Saturday in the semifinals will come from the confrontation between Francisco Cerúndolo and Daniel Evans. He has never faced the Argentine, while he beat Evans in his only duel in Vienna 2021.
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