Alcaraz, what a blow: Jarry beats him in two sets, final farewell to Buenos Aires

If there was a hint of a Carlos Alcaraz crisis, it can now be declared officially open. It’s not so much the defeat, against Nicolas Jarry, in the semi-final of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, but it’s how it happened that should worry the world number two. A 7-6 (2) 6-3 in one hour and 58 minutes was quite peremptory in favor of the Chilean, an excellent player (this evening he was great on serve with seven aces), who deserved the final of the Argentine tournament, but certainly not to level of Spanish, or at least what we knew.

the match

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Jarry scored the decisive break in the second set at 4-3, among other things in a comeback, after losing serve in the opening game of the second half: Alcaraz was unable to counter-break at 5-3, losing the match and the tournament. Let’s face it: the phenomenal former world number one has been struggling for months, supported almost exclusively by his enormous size, but it’s now clear that there’s something wrong. Since his victory at Wimbledon, that player has almost never been seen again. In Argentina, where he was the reigning champion, Alcaraz never demonstrated that he was at his usual level: often awkward, unusually nervous, tactically confusing, very far from the player he was until a few months ago.

Is it a crisis?

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The blows are always there, but they seem to be given at random, without a concrete thread of conversation. One fact is emblematic: he hasn’t reached the final in seven tournaments (since Cincinnati, six months ago), nine without victory, and he hasn’t even managed to do so in a 250, moreover on clay, which is what should be the his favorite surface. In short, Alcaraz is not approaching in the best way an already important turning point of his season, that Sunshine Double Indian Wells-Miami where last year he achieved a victory (in California) and a semi-final, in Florida, lost against Sinner. And be careful: maybe we will get a little ahead of schedule and with our imagination, but the Italian, freshly number three in the world, can already fantasize about overtaking the Spaniard at number two not too far away in time, given the premises and the state of shape of both. Absolutely unthinkable, until a year ago. Jarry in Buenos Aires, tomorrow, will play the sixth career semi-final, going in search of the fourth title, challenging the home idol Acosta.