MADRID, 10 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz faces this Sunday (10:00 p.m.) the most important match of his career, in which he can become number one in the world and win his first ‘Grand Slam’, the US Open, in which he has managed to reach the final after overcoming two agonizing matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and only the Norwegian Casper Ruud can separate him from the top.
The Murcian came to the tournament as one of the main favorites, although a step behind Rafa Nadal and the Russian Daniil Medvedev, knowing that according to the results he could become the best tennis player in the world at just 19 years old. After the early defeats of the Balearic and the Russian, Ruud finds himself facing the same possibility, and if he wins the final, he would also be at the top of the ranking.
However, Alcaraz is the tennis player who reaches the title match with the most hours of play, after playing four and a half hours in the semifinals and more than five and a quarter hours in the quarterfinals, almost five more hours of tennis than Ruud in those same rounds. This difference can have a double reading, because on the physical plane it could favor the Norwegian, but in terms of sensations, the Spaniard arrives at a moment of great confidence.
The one from El Palmar also meets the rival he won his first Masters 1,000 against, in the final in Miami last April, where he was the big surprise and won the final in two sets (7-5, 6-4). Now, both face each other again on American soil, but in very different circumstances, both players being very different from those of that day.
To reach the final, Alcaraz defeated Nadal’s executioner, the American Frances Tiafoe, in an agonizing match that was resolved in five sets (6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3). The Spaniard gave up the first set in the ‘tie break’, but managed to resolve the next two; he fell back in the fourth again in sudden death, but ended up prevailing in the fifth breaking the American three times.
Before, he had to overcome another titanic match against the Italian Jack Sinner, where he needed five hours and 18 minutes to get rid of his rival, who even had a match point in his favor. Along the way, he also beat Croatian Marin Cilic, American Jenson Brooksby and Argentines Federico Coria and Sebastián Báez.
He will face Casper Ruud, current number five in the ATP ranking, who could climb to the top if he manages to win the final. Contrary to Carlos Alcaraz, the Norwegian already knows what it is like to play the final of a ‘big’, since he played against Rafa Nadal in the Roland Garros final, where he clearly fell in three sets.
In fact, the only two finals that the Norwegian has played in major tournaments have been defeats against the Spanish, now finding himself with the third opportunity to fight for his first title. Ruud has reached this situation after beating the Russian Kachanov and the Italian Matteo Berrettini, among others, in the semifinals. His toughest match was against the American Tommy Paul, who forced him to the fifth set in the round of 32.
