September 11, a fateful date in the history of the United States, could have been unforgettable for Pablo Carreño and for Spanish tennis. On the 19th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers, and in New York, the man from Gijon was much better than Alexander Zverev, fourth favorite of the tournament, in the first two sets, but the German, a number one project that does not finish curdling, rallied with patience and a claw that his coach, David Ferrer, has surely transmitted to him, to play for the first time in the final of a Grand Slam, the US Open. Carreño is once again with honey on his lips in New York, like three years ago when he also touched the feat, but he fell in four sets against Kevin Anderson. This time Zverev needed five to beat the Spaniard 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and 6-3 in three hours and 22 minutes. Dominic Thiem will be measured on Sunday (22:00, Eurosport).
There was faith in the possibilities of Carreño, his team and himself in the first place, and also because Zverev had reached the semifinals in fits and starts, without playing too well. Quite the opposite of the Asturian, who was fantastic in consistency, depth and precision in his shots, with good serves and maturity, a lot of maturity. Although in the end the ranking and the qualities of the Teuton prevailed, especially the service (24 aces for 71 winners), which got him out of trouble when the worst happened. He already has a guaranteed prize: Monday will be the 18th in the world, again in the top-20 (Bautista will recover 10th place). Also, With his role in this Grand Slam, he slaps all those who have disrespected him during these two weeks, including the wayward Nick Kyrgios, who he says would make him “mincemeat”. It should be seen.
The sound of Carreño's initial gale, an ‘eh’ that was accentuated by the winning shots, resounded in an empty Athur Ashe, the gigantic center court of the Billie Jean King Center in which there was no audience to enjoy and applaud the Spaniard. If millions of viewers around the world saw him and were amazed by his performance. In the first set he was on the way to scoring 6-1 on Zverev and in the second he had the rest close. The advantage was less, but it was enough. The desperate Teuton could not find the formula to get rid of the pressure on his services. The first game of the second sleeve escaped him after almost 15 minutes of battle in which he conceded a beautiful setback to the line of his rival. Carreño flew during an exalted period that defeated Sascha's attempts to react.
It was missing to finish off. And Zverev did not make it easy. More focused, he broke the Gijón's serve to get 3-1 and serve. Pablo, with the intensity decreasing after his initial deployment, he realized and increased his aggressiveness to counter-break. However, he had no choice but to row against the current because his opponent added a new break and this time he consolidated it with ease and with four sack shots in his next turn, the Hamburg tennis player shortened distances in the match.
Row to die on shore
Carreño had to lower his head and suffer, something he had not experienced in the first two sets. He lacked a little more strength to hit deep blows with the drive and the serve rescued him. His opponent also refined in that aspect after delivering five double faults in the first two rounds and the rest had already taken a step forward and caused much concern. So much so that he added another break and went ahead in the fourth quarter (2-1). “I can't hit the ball,” Pablo seemed to say to his team. Although, immediately afterwards, he broke Zverev's serve in white and then took the lead (3-2). That was the game that was expected from the beginning. The chair judge, Marijana Veljovic, warned Carreño about possible coaching and he was, with irony, told his coach, Samuel López, “encourage me more clearly, when you say 'let's go, let's go', louder, so that I can hear it” . Zverev attacked again, already in star mode. In addition, Pablo gave him a legal ball that angered him. And the duel went to the fifth set with two aces from the German.
Attended by the physio of the tournament with discomfort in the hip and lower back. No mercy, Sascha collected another break and he went for the game viciously. He was close to placing a lethal 3-0 in his favor, although Carreño endured. He didn't give up, he fed and fought. However, Zverev did not lower his guard and seized the opportunity he was looking for and that he reaches 23 years old, with a whole career ahead of him.
Results of the day.