After the storm, comes the calm. If the premiere of Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid was loaded with drama, to the point of frightening a crowd that after a year of waiting came to fear that he would be eliminated at the first opportunity, what happened this Sunday was a completely different story and much more placid They were able to enjoy the nearly 12,000 spectators who almost filled the Magic Box and in which the number 2 began to recover sensations and sealed his presence in the round of 16 (6-2; 7-5 in 1 hour and a half). There, an old acquaintance awaits him, the German Alexander Zverev, whom he beat last year in the final.
“I am a person who learns from what he has done wrong, and there were many things to improve compared to the first day. We were clear that we had to go out and enjoy ourselves, to play the game we know how to play, play attack and smileand that has been the key”, answered Alcaraz after the crash, visibly happier than the first day.
appeared Dimitrov on the horizon as a favorable rival for it. Little remains of that player who dazzled in his early days and who came to be known as the ‘baby Federer’. His one-handed backhand, as aesthetic as it was imprecise, and the lack of forcefulness in the melee that has weighed on him throughout his career seemed like candy for an Alcaraz who needed to pick up rhythm and fluidity at the altitude of Madrid.
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The Murcian took advantage of it, who in the first set was a cyclone. The simple balls that the other day left by half a meter today fell on the line and the right, stiff then, today flowed and found the corners. He barely gave the defending champion the option to serve in the first set, conceding only three points to Dimitrov, and broke at the beginning and end of the set
The Bulgarian tried to react in the second set by using his best weapon, the serve, and he succeeded. He came to break Alcaraz’s service to get 2-4 up, but it was a mirage. On the first occasion he recovered the Murcian, who he did not get nervous and laughed and interacted with the public. The quick response from number 2 clouded Dimitrov, who was trying to cheer up but, without actually playing bad tennis, he couldn’t find a way to hurt his rival. And he faded, trembling on the 5-5 serve and handing over the game to an Alcaraz who adds his 25th victory of the year and continues his path in Madrid.