MADRID, 1 Apr. (SportsFinding) –
Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz will play the second consecutive semifinals of a Masters 1,000 after qualifying this Thursday for the penultimate round of the tournament in Miami (United States) after coming back in a tough match against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (6-7, 6-3, 7 -6).
The Murcian showed his character to win a duel where his rival made it very difficult for him and at times it seemed that it would be for him, especially in the ‘sudden death’ that decided the match after almost two and a half hours of play.
Now, the 18-year-old player will try to improve his performance at the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells where his compatriot Rafa Nadal blocked his way. His rival to play his first grand final in the ATP will be the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, defender of the title and executioner of the Russian Daniil Medvedev, first seeded.
Kecmanovic made it clear that his quarterfinals in the Californian desert a few weeks ago were no accident either. The Serbian, 48 in the world, stood up and almost never, except in the second set, could he really be disarmed by the Spaniard, despite the fact that he managed to connect 50 winners, due to 42 unforced errors.
The Serbian started the match better and already gave the Murcian a warning. A ‘break’ on his first serve allowed him to command in the first set, but Alcaraz did not waste his first and only option on the Balkan’s service to reestablish the balance in the seventh game. There were no more concessions and the game went to the ‘tie-break’ where the 15th in the world had 5/4 and two aces that he could not take advantage of because Kecmanovic took the last three points.
The Murcian tennis player did not feel this blow and took advantage of the only loophole left by his opponent to calm down with a quick break. With the lead on the scoreboard, his service prevailed and forced the third set, although he still had to save a break point at 5-3.
The last set was tremendously even and neither of them gave options with their serve, but Kecmanovic had a threatening 15-30 with 5-4 in his favor and, above all, 5/3 in the final ‘sudden death’. There, Alcaraz resorted to his character and courage with great blows that closed the door to the Serbian and gave him the ticket to the semifinals.