The victory has a double prize, as it guarantees the tennis player to return to second position in the ATP ranking, which puts it as a number 2 head head in Roland Garros
Efficient against an opponent who always causes problems, Spanish (n.3) qualified for the semifinal of Rome by defeating British Jack Draper (n.5) on Wednesday (14) with a double 6-4. The victory has a double prize, as it guarantees the tennis player to return to second position in the ATP ranking, which puts him as a number 2 head in Roland Garros, avoiding a confrontation with Italian Jannik Sinner (n.1) before a hypothetical final in Parisian clay.
After the game of ups and downs against Russian Karen Khachanov in the round of 16, the 22-year-old Spaniard showed an improved version on Wednesday. “I am very happy with how I started the match, knowing how it was in Indian Wells, where it was very difficult for me to deal with nervousness,” Alcaraz admitted after the victory. “I think I faced the situation differently today, which makes me very proud. Above all, the game I made, very confident throughout the match, enjoying the blows and doing what I like to do, without giving much importance to the result,” he said.
Against an opponent who defeated him in two of the five times they had faced each other earlier, Alcaraz was unstoppable on the first set, although Draper came out after gaining a break in the sixth game. Alcaraz’s response was striking: four consecutive games and 1 to 0 on the scoreboard.
The second partial began with another break from Spaniard, but in the next game, Draper returned to the game, until he loses his withdrawal again and Alcaraz took the opportunity to close the duel in one hour and 37 minutes.
The Spanish young man showed a lot of confidence, getting 24 winning balls (against just eight Draper), although he took on more risks, which led him to make more mistakes (29 to 17).
On Thursday (15), Alcaraz will face a place in the final the winner of the confrontation between the German Alexander Zverev, still number 2 of the world and the title defender in Rome, and the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (n.9).
Also on Wednesday, Norwegian Casper Ruud (n.7) advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Spanish Jaume Munar (n.66) by 2 sets to 0 (6-3 and 6-4).
*With information from AFP
Posted by Nátaly Tenório
