With magnificent feelings after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in two sets and with authority in the round of 16, Carlos Alcaraz faces for the first time this Thursday (not before 1:00, Sports 1 by M+) against Miomir Kecmanovica late heir to Novak Djokovic who went far against the odds after eliminating the recent Indian Wells champion, the American Taylor Fritz.
Kecmanovic, born in Belgrade 22 years ago, will be the Serbian number two in the world ranking from Monday behind Djokovic. He is assured of 38th place, just one ahead of Filip Krajinovic, and is the great hope of tennis in a country in which no tennis players have emerged so far who come even remotely close to the legacy that the still number one in the world will one day leave. world. Kecmanovic stood out in his junior stage (finalist at the US Open and semifinalist at Roland Garros, where he was beaten by Nicola Kuhn, who at that time defended the colors of Spain and now plays for Germany) and was the leader of the ranking in 2016, ahead of Tsitsipas, whom he beat in the 2015 Orange Bowl final.
Then it was difficult for him to establish himself as a professional. In 2020 he won his first and only title to date in Kitzbuhel and broke into the top-40. His progression is slow, but sure. Nole has followed his career and trained with him in the Davis Cup Finals, when the kid unluckily faced Kazakh veteran Mikhail Kukushkin in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic’s Avenger
A right-handed player with a two-handed backhand, Misha, as he is nicknamed, is very serious on the court and is trained by former Argentine tennis player David Nalbandián.. He speaks English and German, in addition to his native language, Serbo-Croatian, and has grown up tennis precisely in Florida, where he moved with his uncle, Tanja, at the age of 13. Maybe that’s why she’s good at Miami. As she could not be otherwise, her idol is Djokovic. In fact, he dedicated his first victory to him in the last Australian Open, where the Balkan idol could not play due to his refusal to be vaccinated. “We are going to give everything to avenge Nole”, he said then. The draw had matched them, but in the end they did not face each other. Now, Miomir aspires to emulate some of his mentor’s successes, though he has it pretty tough.
Results of the Miami Masters 1,000.