C.arlos Alcaraz has taken the measure of Karen Khachanov and has taken the majority of the elite members of the racket.
The Russian is eleventh in the ATP ranking and gave up this Wednesday against the Murcian phenomenon in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open by 6-4 and -7-5, in 1 hour and 50 minutes. It should be remembered that Khachanov reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and Miami this season.
Alcaraz has given himself a semifinal of the Madrid Masters 1000 for their twentieth anniversary that will be this Friday. On that date he will meet the winner of the quarterfinals between Daniel Altmaier and Borna Coric.
Carlitos has not come down from that round in the six tournaments played this season: Buenos Aires (champion), Rio de Janeiro (finalist), Indian Wells (champion), Miami (semifinalist), Barcelona (champion) and Madrid (semifinalist). .
Thus it is understood that the pupil of Juan Carlos Ferrero is the second tennis player with the most points in this 2023, a total of 2,770, and also occupies the second position in the ranking of matches won with 27.
Ahead is only Daniil Medvedev (33)who will not be able to continue adding this week as he was eliminated on Tuesday against his compatriot Aslan Karatsev.
Tennis players with the most victories this season
Daniel Medvedev 33
Carlos Alcaraz 27
Jannik Sinner 26
Stefanos Tsitsipas 23
Andrei Rublev 23
Cameron Norrie 23
Holger Rune 22
Carlitos, as he says, was forced to put on overalls before a rival with weapons to silence the track Manolo Santana. Each and every one of the Russian’s mistakes is applauded because the fan is going to watch tennis, but, above all, he is going to see the new idol of the masses win.
Karen, after fighting and a lot, made the ‘break’ only after stopping when a ball from her executioner bounced just above the line. The tennis player from El Palmar took a load off his shoulders, but was left to close the first set. The first two options escaped, the first to the rest. The third fell from her side.
Khachanov asked his bench for explanations, led by Pepo Clavet from Madrid. He had played like never before and the game was slipping away. The 1.98 meter giant was moving almost as fast as his adversarybut it sank the knee. He had his moment to equalize four games and it vanished.
From a possible 5-1 to 5-7
The sun was shining in the Magic Box (29 degrees) and those present took advantage of the lull to hydrate and apply sun cream. The script did not change in the continuation and The Russian was still in the fight, distancing himself with a 4-1. I even enjoyed two chances to make it 5-1.
Every time the first seed in the draw needed a second serve they returned a missile. Khachanov served for the set at 5-3 and failed. He would pay dearly because he would give up the last five games.
Alcaraz is on the wave of victory when he plays on Spanish soil. He has chained 19 wins since he lost to Rafael Nadal on May 5, 2021, just the day he came of age. He left by car for Murcia wanting to return. This time he stays to continue delighting an audience that idolizes him and continue winning 728 days later.
Whether it’s the ‘qualy’ Altmaier or the Croatian Coric, the young Spaniard will come across someone unknown in terms of blows because there are no precedents between the two.