Carlos Alcaraz had already made his debut in an ATP tournament in Spain, the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, but in the preliminary phase and with defeat to the first exchange a couple of years ago. He needed to take the alternative at home in a main draw and that opportunity came to him this Tuesday in Marbella, on the court that bears the name of a historic pioneer of national tennis, the great Manolo Santana. The 17-year-old and 133rd from Murcia ended a losing streak of five defeats in six games since Melbourne and debuted his record at the AnyTech365 Andalucía Open with a hard-fought win against Nikola Milojevic: 7-6 (3) and 6-3 in 1h: 38. Thus he added the fifth ATP victory and leveled a balance that is now 5-5 in the category. The youngest of the tournament He will face the oldest in the second round on Thursday, another historical from the Navy, Feliciano López (39 years old), sixth seed who won without too much trouble (double 6-4 and 87 minutes) to the Japanese Taro Daniel. “It will be special to play against a boy like Carlos, who is an honor for all of us, for his desire to succeed and the level at which he plays, “said the man from Toledo, who as director of the Mutua Madrid Open has not hesitated to invite the great promise of Spanish tennis.
Covered by his entire team, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Samuel López, Pablo Carreño, Albert Molina …, and with the support of the reduced public Who can enjoy the tournament, Alcaraz went from less to more against a rival, a Serbian 25 years old and 129º, who hits the shots very flat, as if he played on a hard court, serves well and directs the points with substance. Carlos did not lose patience, although he lived the game with nerves and intensity, and he was the first to have break options in the game, although he could not take advantage of them until the second set. That is why the first one was resolved in the tiebreaker. There, the kid bravely looked for winners to pay attention to Ferrero, who was yelling at him to go after Milojevic.
Perhaps the tension of that tight first set took its toll on Alcaraz, who conceded the only break of the match in white and at the start of the second set. Calmly, he threatened first with the break and then finally got it to zero, as the Balkan had done. From there he was superior and obtained the prize of a new break with which he sentenced. Along the way he left pearls in the form of winners in the race, left behind from class and personality, a lot of personality to win again in an ATP 250, as he had done in Melbourne three months ago. His top is the third round, a goal that has two victories, although what he is looking for is “experience” and knowing what his level is. I already tell you that it is tall. “I get along very well with Feli, but on the track he is a rival, even though he gave me a wildcard for Mutua. He has been through many more situations than me, but I will try to play my game and not think about it, “said Charly, as he calls himself.
Victories of Vilella, Munar and Davidovich
In the rest of the day, another three Spaniards made it to the second round. Mario Vilella won the national duel of tennis players who had played the previous one by beating Bernabé Zapata 6-2 and 6-3 on court 1. The man from Elche will face the number one favorite, Pablo Carreño, in the last turn of the center today (not before 17:30, Teledeporte). Jaume Munar started on the right foot against the Swiss Henri Laaksonen, whom he won 6-4 and 6-1 to meet on Thursday with the second seed, the Italian Fabio Fognini. And in the last duel of the day, Alejandro Davidovich knew how to suffer and improve both in tennis and in attitude to beat the complicated Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in three sets: 6-7 (1), 6-2 and 6-2. The man from Malaga had the first set under control, but it got away from him and he had to fight a lot to keep going. He will face the Lithuanian Ilya Ivashka, who could with a Pedro Martínez still limping from his abdominal problems (6-3 and 7-6 (2)).
Table, results and calendar.