Murcian victory by 6-2, 6-3, 4-6 and 6-3
MADRID, 2 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz entered the round of 16 of the US Open this Saturday, the fourth ‘Grand Slam’ of the season and which is played on a hard court in New York (United States), after winning 6-2, 6- 3, 4-6 and 6-3 to the British Daniel Evans, tenant of position 28 in the ATP ranking.
Again on the track of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, but this time in the noon shift, Alcaraz achieved victory after three hours and 13 minutes. Thus, the defending champion in Flushing Meadows will face the Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the next round, executioner of the also British Cameron Norrie by 6-3, 6-4 and 6-3.
But before arriving at that appointment, the El Palmar player had to deal with an uncomfortable opponent. However, his previous face-to-face against Evans favored Murcia 2-0; The last time they crossed their rackets was on April 22, in the semifinals of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell-70th Conde de Godó Trophy.
And perhaps with that in mind, the opening game served as a warning for the Birmingham man. Up to three ‘break’ balls Alcaraz had at his disposal, which did not crystallize there, but did in the next rival service turn (3-0). In addition, he immediately consolidated his advantage in white (4-0) and it was only a matter of time before he tied the set.
On the verge of doing so, in the seventh game he enjoyed a 15-40, but Evans amended that situation and even had three break options in his favor in the subsequent game. The Murcian then showed his usual skill to turn the score around and close, now, the first set.
He did it on the third chance, as a prelude to a difficult start to the second set. Evans scored 0-1 in white and then broke to move away 0-2, but it was a mirage because the man from El Palmar continued to shine with his parallel forehands and he clung to that to come back. He returned the ‘break’ (1-2), saved a 30-40 in the fourth game and broke again in the fifth (3-2), paving the way to 6-3.
However, something similar happened to the man from Palma from his duel in the previous round against the South African Lloyd Harris. Unforced errors at key moments, less versatility in attack and a couple of ‘disconnections’ added up, all together, to an evident improvement in his opponent: a single unforced error was made by the Birmingham tennis player during the third set.
With no break points in the first six games, Evans didn’t squander his 15-40 lead in the seventh; and curiously in the eighth he saved a 15-40 against, showing that he was still going to put up a fight against the Spaniard. Both of them got tangled up in the tenth game, where the Englishman was slow to win the set with his service; the fifth chance was the charm.
The pace of the match slowed down a bit in the opening moments of the fourth set, testing Alcaraz if his opponent had fully revived or if it was just a feint. Both temperately won their respective service turns, but in the sixth chapter came the final thrust of the current US Open champion.
With a breaking ball in his locker, on the run and from the bottom of his track he hit a parallel right that fell on the opposite end line, dodging a desperate Evans’ climb to the net. He threw the racket against the ground, thus repeating the gesture of anger that he had already exhibited before, and confirmed what was a premature sentence (4-2).
From that moment on, Alcaraz did not give the English leeway to return to the scoreboard. In the ninth game, 6-3 blank, based on two ‘aces’ and a stellar rally at times. But above all, the man from Palma de Mallorca had the patience to macerate the victory and continue at least one more round against the always attractive ‘big’ New Yorker.