A few days that Carlos Alcaraz debut in the tournament Queen’swhere defend the crownthe Murcian maintains his plans in the British tournament. After arriving in London this Saturdaythat of El Palmar has carried out its second training session on the grass following the established plans. Despite knowing the pairings of the British tournament draw, which have placed his friend Francisco Cerúndolo as his first rival in the defense to revalidate the titleboth They decided not to cancel training and continue as planned despite breaking one of the unwritten superstitions in tennis.
After making your first training yesterday with the American Frances Tifaoethis morning Alcaraz and Cerúndolo competed in a two-hour and 15-minute training session with a court full of people who did not want to miss the opportunity to see the current champion at the ‘Fan Day’ of the tournament. The Murcian took over the set disputed in the exercise by 7-5breaking the Argentine’s service on two occasions and giving in on one.
Their match at Queen’s will be the first face to face between both of them on the ATP circuit, after they have shared a track on several occasions due to the friendship that unites them. However, There is a precedent between Murcia and Argentina in an ITF World Tennis Tour event (tournament below the Challengers) in Palmanova (Mallorca), in January 2019.
In those semi-finals, The Spaniard, who was barely 15 years old, left a good impression on the 21-year-old from Buenos Aires, who took the match 6-2, 6-4 to later win the tournament. The meeting helped the Argentine to discover the talent of the Spaniard, with whom five years later he would play his first official match.
“I don’t remember much about the game,” Cerúndolo told EFE this Sunday at the Queen’s club. “But I remember that I was 18 and he was 15. I beat him in the semifinals and left the game saying “this kid plays too well” for his age.. I was surprised that, playing well, I was 300th in the world, I had to be so on top of my game with such a young kid. I thought it was going to be very good, but not so fast“Of course,” admitted the Argentine.
I beat him in the semifinals and left the game saying “this kid plays too well” for his age.
Alcaraz, undefeated on grass last season
Alcaraz shows up for the appointment, which will be on Tuesday or Wednesday, with a streak of 19 wins and two losses in their last 21 gamesin addition to return to the grass where he did not give in in any of his 12 matches played in 2023.
For its part, Cerúndolo, 27th in the ranking, comes after falling in the round of 16 at Roland Garros against Novak Djokovic. A match in which The Argentine put the Serbian between the ropes in five sets. After training between the two, the Argentine declared his feelings ahead of the confrontation. “It will be a very tough game. He comes from winning Roland Garros, he is number two in the world, he is the defending champion here, at Wimbledon… It’s a nice challenge. It has never touched me at the ATP level. “We know each other and we are looking forward to it.”Cerúndolo pointed out for EFE.
