The qualifiers are exhausted to define the impact that Carlos Alcaraz produces in the world of tennis. One loses the shame when comparing him with the greatest of the racket sport and also when dreaming of what he can do in a career that is still in its infancy. Because it has things, details, of the brightest stars, and I won’t say names so as not to be blasphemous. This Tuesday in Miami, the 18-year-old from Murcia He again beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 23 and number five in the world, with more forcefulness (7-5 and 6-3 in 1h50) than when he did it in five sets in the third round of last year’s US Open, when he stunned the entire planet for the first time. And on Thursday he will play the quarterfinals of the Masters 1,000 against the American Taylor Fritz or the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic. What’s more, is virtually 15th in the ranking and it could leave Florida even higher.
The public that was lucky enough to attend the match live at the Miami Open headquarters looked at each other with a smile from ear to ear, amazed, and some even shook hands to congratulate themselves for being able to see the show that Alcaraz is right now. The prodigy from El Palmar is into everything, he manages the rhythm of the matches with changes of tactics as he suits him. Against Tsitsipas he started at too high a speed against an opponent who takes advantage of inertia well when played like this. In this way and with a high-class performance, especially at the net, the Greek went ahead with a 5-2 that seemed to give him the first set. Perhaps he was not expecting Carlos’s intelligent and at the same time furious reaction. He had already scored an excellent point with a Willy before breaking his serve with high and slow balls sometimes, and heavy and flatter balls on other occasions. And with backhand exchanges (how he handles it!) to prevent the Athenian from getting in position to hit the ball with his powerful drive. He put it 5-5 with a tremendous lob in full comeback.
A 7-0 run allowed him to take the first set and start the second in command (2-0) in the moments of greatest inspiration. Tsitsipas knew how to stop the Alcaraz gale in time and caused problems for the rest in two games. But he had to go to sack and the tension was able to him. Flushed and sweaty, he had a bad detail with the Spanish when with a ball he responded unnecessarily, because he had gone outHe was about to hit him. And with tremendous poise, he held on to score yet another prestigious victory, his fifth against a top-10 finisher in less than 12 months. Since that 5-2, 11-3 for him and the finishing touch to the rest and with one of those drop shots that he executes wonderfully.
Carlos aims high
Tsitsipas had a balance of 17-6 in 2022 (17-7 now), with the semifinals of the Australian Open and the final in Rotterdam. And he had a very aggressive plan to take revenge on Alcaraz with a new coach in the stands, former Swedish tennis player Thomas Enqvist, but it went to waste because Carlitos, as you can read on his racket bag, drove him crazy. His record is 15-2 so far this season, he was champion in Rio, an ATP 500, and semifinalist a few days ago in Indian Wells. In Miami aim even higher for level and sensations.
Results of the Miami Masters 1,000.