The murcian Carlos Alcaraz was defeated in his first match at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 and in his debut on clay this season. In a bad match for the player from El Palmar, the American Sebastian Korda won and qualified for the third round (7-6, 6-7 and 6-3).
In more than three hours of play, on very few occasions did Alcaraz feel comfortable, losing the first set, equalizing the second in the tie break, and in the third, when he dominated 0-2, he was not able to give continuity to his game to end up saying goodbye to a tournament he came to after winning in Miami two weeks ago.
The Murcian entered the game cold. Although the second game, with his serve, he won blank, he did not feel comfortable on the court. Korda, with a better first serve, except for a break ball in the fifth game and in the next game he achieved the ‘break’ with a double fault from a hesitant Alcaraz. But those doubts were dispelled in the next game. It was a key moment. Korda could be installed with a disturbing 5-2, but after a 40-0 for the American and two balls to win the game, a more aggressive Alcaraz than until that moment, dealt the final blow to recover the loss of his previous service (4-3). Then, with his service, Alcaraz hardly found it difficult to equalize the match again (4-4). Doubts began to arise in Korda at the same time that the Murcian grew, who with a great lob forced another opportunity for a break, although he later came with a double fault from his rival (4-5).
Alcaraz had the opportunity to close the first set with his serve, but at the first opportunity, Korda managed to equalize this set again (5-5). But the mental strength of the El Palmar player is bombproof.
Instead of breaking down, he launched a big offense. He wasted two chances to break his rival’s serve, but he didn’t miss the third time and got back in position (5-6) with the opportunity to close the set with his serve. However, the best version of Korda appeared again, reaching all balls and forcing sudden death, blanking Alcaraz with his own serve. In the ‘tie break’, the American took advantage of a mini ‘break’ in the third point to win by a clear 7-2 and take the lead in the match after saving the two occasions in which Alcaraz served to win the set.
Comeback in the tie break
Alcaraz had to turn his game around to lift a game that was very difficult for him. And at the start of the second set he gained that confidence that he was missing. In the second game, at the first opportunity, he achieved a break (0-2) that he repeated in the sixth (2-4), just after Korda achieved his first break. But the doubts returned to the Murcian, who had the opportunity to leave the set seen for sentence and life was complicated again, giving up his serve blank (3-4).
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The errors continued to mark a match where the wind conditioned the game of both tennis players. But Alcaraz brought Korda back to life. At 4-5 he had up to three set points, but he failed again and the American made it 5-5 and transferred the pressure to the Murcian. He was on the ropes in the next game the pupil of Juan Carlos Ferrero, who saved two break balls to make it 5-6. The American forced sudden death again, where this time Alcaraz did not failwho took advantage of a double fault from his opponent, who saved a set point, but in the second, a great right hand from Murcia, sentenced (5-7) and led the match to the third and final round.
The third set started very well for Alcaraz, who broke Korda’s serve in the first game. He also won the next one on serve (0-2), but the American started the comeback. In the eighth game, a decisive break came for Korda, who made it 5-3 and had the opportunity to close the match. He didn’t succeed on the first occasion, when he narrowly sent a right hand that he had earned, but he did on the second.In this way the adventure of Alcaraz in Montecarlo ended. Next week he will play the ATP 500 in Barcelona, the Count of Godó.