Alcaraz accelerates to repeat the appointment against Zverev in the quarterfinals

Forgetting the suffering he suffered in the second round against Albert Ramos, when he had to save a match point to beat the Catalan in five sets, Carlos Alcaraz has reached cruising speed in Paris. The Murcian, who got rid of the American Korda on Friday in three sets, He also beat Karen Khachanov with a jerk: 6-1, 6-4 and 6-4 in two hours and 14 minutes. And on Tuesday he will face Alexander Zverev, the 25-year-old German and number three in the world, who is experiencing a complicated course in which he admits having suffered “mental health problems.”

Alcaraz (19 years old) is the youngest to reach the penultimate round in two Grand Slams (US Open 2021 and Roland Garros 2022) since the Russian Andrey Medvedevwho achieved it at the same ages and in the same tournaments in 1993.

Carlitos returned to act in the golf session de la Chatrier, the one that Nadal does not like at all and in which he repeats due to his growing notoriety and because being almost a rookie, the organizers are less hesitant to put him to play at night. He had never faced Khachanov, a tennis player who promised a lot, who grew up tennis in Barcelona and who became the leader of the group of Russians who have settled in the last at the top of the ranking. Some time ago he saw how Daniil Medvedev, Rublev and even Karatsev passed him on the right.

Cold and a ‘willy’

In a rather cold environment in terms of weather (13 degrees, some wind and 65% humidity), the El Palmar prodigy managed the game as he pleased and everything depended on him, on his successes and his mistakes, which there were at times, especially in the third quarter. To his credit, the best point of the tournament so far, a blow to the back of the court below the legs, what is called a willy, which Khachanov could not answer. “I had that idea when I saw how the rally was going,” he said. In his due, little, beyond the difficulty to close the victory with his sixth match-ball. “It was a great game from my side, from start to finish.” So keep it up, Charlie.