From playing the preview on court 8 to fighting in the semifinals a week later on the Manolo Santana court in Madrid

2023-05-04 23:58:03

The male picture of the Mutua Madrid Open 2023 It goes from surprise to surprise, especially in the lower part of the draw, where the two tennis players who have reached the semifinals do so from the previous one. This edition of the Spanish Masters 1,000 is resembling a Grand SlamAlthough it is the best of three sets, since it lasts almost two weeks, it has more players and more matches. To be champion, seven victories are needed, except for the seeded teams, who are exempt from the first phase due to ranking and have six games. But one of the finalists will carry even more effort behind him.

Karatsevthe 29-year-old Russian, 121 in the world, who rose to fame at the 2021 Australian Open by reaching the semifinals in his first presence in the final draw of a Grand Slam, defeated another of the unexpected, the Chinese Zhang ( 7-6 [7/3] and 6-4), to get into the semifinals. Before he could with Medvedev, his compatriot; De Minaur, Van de Zandschulp and Djere. But it is that before he also had to beat the Italian Brancaccio and the German Struff in the previous phase.

Although even more curious is what happened to his rival in the semifinals, which is… Struff, number 65 in the world. How is it possible, if the German was defeated in that preview? Well, because he is one of the so-called “lucky loser” (lucky loser). The last minute drop Pablo Carreno y Fabio Fognini He made two of these tennis players who had not passed the qualifying phase be recalled. one was Altmaier, who has also had a great role after reaching the round of 16; and the other was Struff, who gave the bell eliminating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals (7-6 [7/5], 5-7 and 6-3), supported by a very powerful service: when he hit the first one it was difficult to see him go below 210 kilometers per hour. He had previously eliminated Cachin, Lajovic, Shelton, Sonego and Nardi, the latter in the first round of qualifying.

Therefore, the match that on April 25 was held on track 8, one of the outer ones, to see who entered the final draw in Madrid will be repeated on the central court, the Manolo Santana on Friday, May 5 at 8:00 p.m. with all the honors for entering the final and fighting for the title against the winner of the alcaraz – Coric. “That reflects the level that there is also in the world number 100. If they are there it is because they deserve it, because they have worked to be there, I always say that you cannot win any game, whether you play against 10 or against 120. Anything can happen in games, the rivals are very tough and there is that data. It reflects the level that exists and you cannot take anything for granted. That is also good for tennis, to see that there are so many players who can fight for titles and that everything is open”, Alcaraz analyzed the large number of surprises that are taking place in this edition of the Mutua Madrid Open.