Carlos Alcaraz He repeats among the eight best at Wimbledon and qualified for the ninth time in his short career for the quarterfinals of a ‘Grand Slam’ tournament after ending the tough resistance of Ugo Humbert, by 6-3, 6-4, 1-6 y 7-5.
At 21 years and 63 days old he is already third, tied with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and Manolo Orantes. on the list of Spaniards with the most appearances in the penultimate round of one of the majors.
Carlitos is only the fifth member of the ‘Armada’ within the Open Era to win his first four matches in the British tournament in more than one edition. Rafael Nadal, Feliciano López, David Ferrer and Ferrero had achieved it before..
Only Boris Björn Borg, Boris Becker, Mats Wilander and Nadal They had reached the quarterfinals of the four major racket stages so many times when they were 21 or younger.
Alcaraz won on middle Sunday, a day on which playing at Wimbledon was prohibited until 2022according to tradition.
Since 1982, when it was established, There was only competition in four editions due to the obligation to make up matches suspended due to bad weather.. The leaders of the All England Club also gave in to another day of box office receipts.
It suits Carlitos well against left-handers: Of his 34 games, 26 have gone in his favor.. The last one against an opponent of that profile, yes, he had lost with Jack Draper in the second round at Queen’s.
For the third consecutive match, the El Palmar tennis player was forced to play indoors because of the eternal London rain. There is no such thing as summer in the British capital.
The amount of water echoed like a military attack on the deck of the power plant. The two protagonists were carrying out their services without major difficulty.
The one that Carlitos squeezed, equality is over. It was in the fifth game when he added the first of his breaks.
A failed Humbert was condemned to his fate. His executioner was better at everything, including calming his nerves when it had to be done. When in doubt, an unforced error or a mistake by the natural player from Metz always appeared.
The three-time champion of a major He dominated 4-2 with only one winning shot in his statistics. Alcaraz scored the point of the tournament with a reverse line when he was lying in one of the corners of the track. The stands stood up. It was the prelude to the initial round.
Four missed opportunities
The Frenchman tried four times to reengage. to the match with balls to break his opponent’s serve in the fifth set of the second set.
Ugo had improved his first serve percentage. At the moment of truth, when it served to equal five, it melted. Second set for Carlitos after another point to save to the video library where he fell and got up.
Humbert did not want to give up and gave up his life to take the lead in the third race. It was thanks to his first break with a volley from his opponent that he went long. From control it had gone to lack of control. The 6-1 for the Frenchman was a reality with three breaks in a row.
Alcaraz did not even flinch in the face of a situation that would have upset anyone. He broke to love at the beginning of the fourth round. The thing is that Ugo was already beginning to believe it. and would equal the result with his fourth consecutive break.
The round of 16 had become a roller coaster. The Murcian increased the power of his shots. He took off at 215 kilometers per hour to make it 3-1. Humbert returned to the scene to take the lead again, this time with a 3-4.
The ups and downs of Spanish stretched over time. He had lost five of the last six serves and faced 0-40. He looked at his bench looking for answers and found them in his racket.
Save time
While the defender of the crown is already in the quarterfinals, the one who will be his rival still hasn’t stepped on the green carpet. And the duel between Tommy Paul y RIt is scheduled in the second turn of track 2Oberto Bautistadelayed by the rain, , immediately after the round of 16 match between Paula Badosa and Donna Vekic.
