Around midnight, Carlos Alcaraz and his team turned off the television and left after watching Lorenzo Musetti’s comeback against Alex de Miñaur. He had already done his homework against Taylor Fritz in the first round, but the outcome of the night match prevented him from securing access to the semifinals of the Masters Cup and now he must do so: on Thursday (8.30pm, Movistar+) he will have to beat the Italian, to avoid possible numerical clashes that could compromise him. He has it in hand, but what looked good – a victory for the Australian would have qualified him directly – ended up being overshadowed. It will be played at night and against a local tennis player.
But this circumstance doesn’t seem to worry him as much as the fact that during the first set and part of the second against Fritz he didn’t find the right feeling. Although the final percentages were positive, Alcaraz suffered for a long time with his serve, suffered from his rival’s oppressive response to the rest and did not have a good sensation from day one it was about connecting shots and building the game. The statistics reflected good levels – 64% efficiency and 74% first shot retention, or 47 winning shots – but the tennis player added a serious tone to tiredness during the conference room presentation: “I have to focus on playing well.”
They immediately asked Murcian the possibility of retaining the number one at the end of the tournament and, consequently, of the course. It would be the second time he has succeeded in his career, after the success in 2022. However, Alcaraz, tired, still seemed to think about the performance against the American. He had already put it on the court a couple of hours earlier, still warm: “I have to concentrate on feeling better than I felt today. Getting better with shots, with serves, with everything in general. I didn’t feel as comfortable as I did on the first day.” And this was the impression. The comeback is precious, the final discovery of the tactical solution; but also some lumps in the throat.
“I overcame very difficult moments and achieved a very important victory,” he described. “In a tennis match everything can change from one moment to the next. When you are on the court you don’t think about what will happen, but you focus on the present. If you don’t have good feelings, it’s hard to believe that they will arrive, and from the outside everything seems easier than it actually is. But both today and in other matches I’ve seen that if you persist and maintain a good attitude, in the end everything improves and you end up playing much better”, added the player from El Palmar, who had a good attitude. difficult to take control. It has sustained itself thanks to its survival instincts and a couple of key strategic changes.
local fervor
From the beginning he delayed his position in the return, with the aim of gaining depth in the deliveries so that Fritz would have to retreat and lose the initiative. And, moreover, he gave more effect to the blow, moving away from the flat melee that the American had been offering him for more than an hour and a half. Thus he was supported and thus the scenario of the clash changed, with a high physical cost. The next meeting with journalists was scheduled almost two hours after his decision, by a considerable margin, and finally took place half an hour later, at 7.20 pm. The cause responded to the now transcendental recovery process.
From training camp to the locker room, Alcaraz placed himself in the hands of his shaman, Juanjo Moreno. There wasn’t a single second to waste, so he met with the athletic trainer and physiotherapist to try to alleviate the damage of a demanding appointment as much as possible. “Physically it was a very demanding match, but also mentally. Furthermore, today the conditions were different: I felt very hot, very humid… And this affects during such a long match. It is difficult to recover, but the good thing is that we have a day off before the next match. We will try to do everything perfectly, to the millimetre, to arrive in the best conditions and help the team,” he said.
The circuit leader underlined the wear and tear resulting from fatigue and concentration – “don’t let negative thoughts prevail over positive ones, for three hours in a row, it leaves you very tired” -, at the same time he insisted on trying to put aside the temptation to concentrate on finishing an exceptional season on top: “Let’s try not to think about it too much, because it can play tricks on you”, he prescribed; “If you give it too much importance, you can go into the game with more pressure or not manage your nerves well. I’m competing with Jannick and if in the end I succeed, it would be something very nice, but we give more value to concentrating on the tournament.”
Now the definitive episode against Musetti is approaching, with what it entails. Italy is a country passionate about tennis – federation licenses increased by 136% between 2019 and 2024, and the network of clubs affiliated to the Federation (FITP) grew by almost 30% in the same period – and the Inalpi Arena will dedicate itself to its players in the night session. “I was out of breath, but this grandstand gave me the energy I needed,” said the Carrara native, making his debut in the master event. On the other side De Minaur, heartbroken. There are 16 consecutive defeats against top 10: “This is affecting me a lot mentally.” And Alcaraz, dominant in head-to-head matches (6-1), is preparing for battle. Definitely on guard.
CLASSIFICATION OPTIONS
The Spaniard has it in hand, without necessarily depending on other results. Fritz and De Miñaur will open the individual day (2pm, Movistar+) and in the evening, the outcome of the duel between him and Musetti will define the two qualifiers for Saturday’s semi-finals (2pm and 8.30pm). The final is Sunday at 6pm. A year ago, Jannik Sinner became champion.
I would advance first in the group:
– If he beats Musetti, regardless of the result.
– If he loses in three rounds and Fritz beats De Minaur in three, but he finds himself with a worse match percentage than him.
I would advance second in the group:
– If he loses and De Minaur beats Fritz.
-SIf he loses in three sets and Fritz wins in two against De Minaur, or in three and has a better percentage of matches won.
They would be eliminated:
– If he loses in straight sets and Fritz also wins in straight sets against De Minaur.
