MADRID, 17 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz reached the semifinals of the Indian Wells (United States) tournament for the second consecutive year, the first Masters 1,000 of the season and which is played on court, after defeating Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday by a double 6- 4 after two hours of the game.
The Murcian passed his first major test in the Californian event with great solvency and good tennis, a stage where he was finally able to decipher the North American, a rival who had resisted him in his three previous matches, the first inconclusive because he had to retire in the 2021 US Open quarterfinals.
However, in the final stretch of last season, with both on the rise, Auger-Aliassime had been able to defeat the man from El Palmar in the Davis Cup and in the final of the Basel (Switzerland) tournament, both on hard courts covered and started this confrontation with that moral advantage, with the addition that in all his matches he had not yet lost his serve with the current number two in the world.
But this time Alcaraz found the formula to break these two ‘curses’. And he did it with high-level tennis, the one necessary to get rid of the Canadian who also played very well, but this time he could not counter his opponent, who returned a year later to the semifinals in Indian Wells, lost in 2022 against Rafa Nadal, and that he is two victories away from recovering the number one in the world.
Now, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil will seek his first final against one of his great rivals at this time, the Italian Janick Sinner, who left out the current champion, the American Taylor Fritz (6-4, 4-6, 6-4 ). Looking at his match history, the show seems guaranteed.
Alcaraz had a very solid match, especially with his service, which he only gave up once and with which he only conceded four break balls. Auger-Aliassime suffered more on serve and delivered twelve, but he knew how to keep his options at all times in an even match and with great points from the beginning.
The first seed in Indian Wells did not take advantage of his first break option in the third game, but on the American’s next serve he pressed again. The eighth seed rose to 15-40 and was able to save two more break options, but couldn’t with the fifth and ended up conceding serve.
17 break balls in total it had cost the Spaniard to get his first ‘break’ against Auger-Aliassime and he strove not to waste such a ‘treasure’, which he was close to losing when the Canadian had his only chance to break the first set with 5-4. Alcaraz got out of trouble and closed the sleeve without further stress.
The Murcian established himself even more on the court and broke the North American’s first serve to take advantage in the second set. However, he signed the worst game of his to serve straight away and delivered it for the first time in the tournament. Auger-Aliassime gathered energy to equalize the duel until the decisive stages, but at 4-4, Alcaraz pressed and broke his rival’s serve again to later certify his pass to the semifinals with his own.
“Today, the objective was to be there. I knew that I was going to have my chances and that I had to]try to take advantage of them. I probably played one of my best games this season, so I’m very happy and I want to keep going,” the Spaniard celebrated after the match in statements collected by the ATP website.
The man from El Palmar was “very proud” of having broken the North American’s serve for the first time in their matches. “I tried to attack the second serve, I tried to dominate the points, I tried to play from the baseline and I tried to be aggressive, taking the opportunity when I served with seconds,” he admitted.