Title in hand, the tenth of his career already, Alex de Miñaur speaks of the “mentality” as a key to having resisted before for such a stage, so adverse and practically terminal in the epilogue of Washington: three match balls against and Alejandro Davidovich, finally, caressing it, so close, just a tris of achieving its first trophy in the elite and of end years he continues to punish him, because his projection and conditions. Not at least the prize. Again, the Malaga escapes: 5-7, 6-1 and 7-6 (3) favorable to the Australian, after 3h 05m. There are four finals and many other defeats. Under the towel, touched that is not sunk, the Spanish continues to spin. Again?
Davidovich thinks about what would have been Not having entered that pumping ball of the opponent in full agony, when Miñaur has thrown everything he carries in the survival briefcase to arrive on time, emerge from the depths and direct the ball, forced to more could not, to save the abyss for the third time. The boat is intuited outside, definitive, but a finger kisses the line and the rest translates into disbelief and downstairs for the Andalusian, which curses. He has arranged first of 4-1 and 0-30; 5-2 and 0-30 later; and of those three options ultimately. However, everything twists and the loop reproduces. So close, so far. A circumstance becoming almost a custom for a tennis player who does not accompany his fortune.
“I have fought for each ball for more than three hours and yet it has not been enough,” he says resigned, after a even duel in which the trend seemed to finally accompany him, until suddenly he has been surrounded by a thousand ghosts again. . With water around the neck, the oceanic has resurfaced with legs, shield and faith. “It’s something that has this track. I did it in 2018 against Rublev [entonces cuatro bolas de partido salvadas] And, honestly, I knew that he could repeat it, ”slides the champion, a competitor who gains relief from stealth and that at 26 years reappears in the top-10 And lurk, with those ten titles, two illustrious compatriots such as Mark Philipphoussis and Patrick Rafter, eleven.
“You deserved it today, I have only been lucky. You are an incredible player, nobody in the circuit wants to play against you. This is not the end, it is only the beginning for you,” he addresses Davidovich, who is denied the reward. He could not achieve it three years ago in Montecarlo or this season at Delray Beach or Acapulco; The second lost occasion – two party points in front of Miomir Kecmanovic, in February -, as is this almost unlikely outcome, determined in that boat and that centimeter of the defensive globe that has kept him alive in the third set. After all, he is still faithful to a plan that follows Rajataba; He works and trusts that the fruit ends up falling sooner or later: “The opportunity will come.”
In this present of two worlds, divided by the border that distance to Miñaur may find the take -off track that craves so much, in the same way that Davidovich continues to climb despite the disgust. With 32 wins, Spanish is the fourth that accumulates the most in 2025 and already matches its best course, with four months still ahead. Decimonoveno in him ranking And leader next to the Australian on a hard track, both 18 victories, laments at the same time that Consuelo finds: “We had a lot of work to do before starting the season. We marked entering the top-20. This week we have not achieved the trophy, but we continue to address our limits and improve. ”
The Alcaraz Oasis
A. C.
Davidovich could not culminate a great week in which on the way to the final he managed to demolish Jaume Munar, in form, already three local representatives, two of them of size: Learner Tien, Taylor Fritz (4th world) and Ben Shelton (8th).
His defeat prevented Spanish tennis to register for the third time to a winner in the Washington Tournament, after àlex Corretja (2000) and Paula Badosa (2024) had triumphed, while circumscribing the success of the present exclusively to the good march of Alcaraz.
The 22 -year -old Murcia has added five titles to summer: Róterdam, Montecarlo, Rome, Roland Garros and Queen’s. To Davidovich’s attempt, the previous day by the Valencian Carlos Taberner is added, defeated in the Umag final (Croatia) by Luciano Dardieri (double 6-3).
Alcaraz, meanwhile, has begun to prepare in Murcia the American tour. He resigned from Montreal’s masters, like Sinner and Novak Djokovic, but if he prevents it, he will participate in Cincinnati (from 7 to 18) before the US Open (from 24).
