The tennis player from El Palmar won their singles duel, but Masarova could not beat Mertens and both fell in the doubles
Spain will play the pass to the final of the Hopman Cup against Croatia; if they win 3-0 they will be in the final, but if they win 2-1 you would have to use calculators
Spain will have to wait for the tie against Croatia to get into the grand final of the Hopman Cup. The Spanish duo, made up of Masarova and Alcaraz, couldn’t beat the Belgian made up of Mertens and Goffin and ended up falling 2-1. The Belgian made it 1-0 (7-6, 2-6 and 10-5) in the first duel, the one in El Palmar tied with suffering (6-4, 4-6 and 8-10), and in the doubles, which broke the tie, the Belgian couple was infinitely superior (6-3 and 6-1). Now, Spain will play against Croatia. Winning 3-0, they will be in the final, but if the series takes them by a tight 2-1, you would have to use a calculator. The doubles is the great pending subject, especially of Alcaraz.
The protagonist of the day was undoubtedly the Murcian, who came to this tournament with the need to win his match after the defeat of his teammate Masarova. Without time to acclimatize to the surface or to get off the Wimbledon throne, Alcaraz had to slog to win his duel against Goffin. The Belgian still can’t believe how he lost the match. And it is that he had the man from El Palmar on the ropes during almost all phases of the match, but the Murcian is made of a different material.
A hard bone to crack
Only he could win this match. The Spanish started the duel well, seeming to show a more placid path than it finally ended up being. But the Belgian, omnipresent for almost the entire game and showing a much more solid game than what the ranking dictates of him, took little time to pick up the pace. After mutually breaking services, Goffin took the direct one, took advantage of Alcaraz’s ‘fatigue’ and took him from side to side. The man from El Palmar had winning shots, but he also accumulated endless errors, especially in the drop shot and the lob. The loss of service at 4-3 finished off the first set.
Alcaraz ran everything, but it was not enough. Too hasty. And the second set did not start exactly well. Goffin started with a ‘break’, but in the game of ‘breaks’ the winner was going to be someone else. From the fifth game, neither the Belgian nor Alcaraz knew how to close their services and in the exchange of blows, by level, only the one from El Palmar could come out champion. He took his smile for a walk, changed the gestures of ‘no, no and no’ for smiles and, despite not playing his best game by farended up winning the second set breaking Goffin’s serve in the last game.
After tying the duel and taking it to the ‘super tie break’, it was time to row. More even than he had already done so far. He started the set 4-0 down, but brought it to 4-4 in a jiffy. 5-4, 5-5, 6-5, 6-6… Until Alcaraz decided that, at this point, it was time not to fail and that Goffin did, who had barely made a mistake. Service and mini break and point for Spain, which was playing 2-1 in the doubles.
Masarova fought it
He played it because Masarova couldn’t against Mertens. The Belgian arrived being superior to the appointment, but the Spanish fought the point until the end. Mertens took the first set by a very close 7-6 after Masarova tied two breaks down. In the second set, the Spaniard picked up a cruising rhythm and ended it with a resounding 2-6, but she could do nothing in the third. Mertens put up a resounding 5-1 as soon as she started, Masarova cut it to 6-5, but the Belgian put in one more gear and ended up closing 10-5.
The doubles were, without a doubt, the duel with the least color. The Belgian couple was more attuned and more decisive in the final points, Mertens and Goffin were tremendously superior and in an hour they killed the duel.
Now Spain will face Croatia tomorrow Saturday. Vekic – Masarova will open the series, Coric and Alcaraz will follow and end the mixed doubles duel. Let’s remember that Spain, Croatia and Belgium are fighting for a place in the grand final, which only the first of the two groups reach.