Alcaraz did not have a quiet game in his first appearance in Toronto. First it was against an aggressive Ben Shelton and today it was against an impassive Hubert Hurkacz (17th) who knew how to lead the match perfectly. If he knew how to be patient with the American, against the Pole he lived on the edge from start to finish. Alcaraz is a rollercoaster of emotions who decided to win and come back from the match twice. After losing a first set without rhythm and progressing at a forced pace in the second, the Spaniard was already celebrating a quiet third set when he allowed himself to overcome a 5-2 in favor to become a 5-6 against whom surprised even Hurckacz himself. The Spaniard does everything: he starts badly, fights and comes back then lets himself come back, rows again and plays a game that had everything. No one told Alcaraz it would be easy to secure his number one status at the US Open, but the young tennis player likes the challenge and hopes for the quarter-finals, in the early hours of Friday to Saturday, not before 1:00 a.m. on Movistar+, for his tormentor from last year: the American Tommy Paul (14th in the ranking).

The Exorcist song played on Toronto’s center court as the two tennis players warmed up as a prelude to the nightmare that the Murcian was about to experience, who came back cold and stopped, allowing Hurkacz to break him from his first serve. Match. He couldn’t find himself and the Pole didn’t give him a break. Having no other choice for the rest, the Murcian had no other choice than to activate to enter a match already led 3-0. So, the Spaniard changed chips, he started to accelerate and his forehand, which had disappeared until then, started to respond even if the Slav did not even flinch because he remained impassive on his first serve .

If the previous night Alcaraz had found the solution by returning the balls that Shelton was responsible for missing, with Hurkacz the key was to pass him from one side to the other and extend the rallies at the back of the field. But the Pole doesn’t seem to make any effort when he hits the ball, as if it’s not his thing. This is where his virtue lies because no one expects him beyond his serve and it turns out that this is not his only hit, Federer already confirmed this in his last match on the Center Court at Wimbledon and there’s a reason he became number nine. in the world.

Alcaraz seemed to have woken up after a short and eventful start, even if the current number 17 of the ranking He continued to do his job on serve, winning 80% of points on first serve. The Murcian’s adaptation to the Toronto court took longer than expected but Hurkacz wasn’t expecting anyone and in 33 minutes he won the first set 6-3.

He tried to restart in the second Alcaraz, he wanted to be serious and he tried, but the mistakes kept happening. Strangers in him because he hasn’t finished hitting well and supporting himself properly as if his mind isn’t connecting with his body. And Hurkacz remained calm in the face of the opportunities offered to him by Carlitos and, as in the initial set, he broke on the Spaniard’s first serve. The match could have ended sooner than expected with this break, but even Hurkacz himself did not believe that the problem was solved, especially against a tennis player who is only growing by leaps and bounds and, through various ” Let’s go ! and looking confident with his bench, he reacted quickly to break the Pole’s serve for the first time.

Each match on Hurkacz’s serve was a new opportunity for Alcaraz who never finished sinking his teeth into it. “Think a little!” , the Spaniard blamed himself for continuing mid-race between exchanges where he let off steam while shouting and moments where he cooled down by crashing, again and again, into an expressionless wall which continued to complicate the recovery against El Palmar.

The inertia of the meeting led them to Ti.e. Pause in the second set. But if Alcaraz stands out for anything, it’s that when he’s not showing his best self and he’s close to the brink, he brings out his innate competitiveness; a champion character, meaning that when the game predicts a negative outcome, he rushes in as if saving the best for last. This is how he begins to chain his blows and manages to win the second set against a surprised Hurkacz, who without realizing it went from the match he wanted to having to fight a definitive set against an Alcaraz who is already in its habitat.

From victory to tragedy

The spark ignited and Alcaraz appeared to stay. Firmer and more confident, controlling the situation and relying on the services of Hurkacz, thus achieving the break in the fourth game of the third set. From there, the Spaniard’s spirit and play only grew, the left balls went in and the forehands flowed. While the Pole, affected and without ideas, deflated more and more until reaching a 5-2 which seemed definitive. Even Hurkacz himself was already in the locker room when the ghosts of the first set reappeared in Alcaraz. Rushing and blocking once again got the better of the Murcian who went from two match points, in a match that seemed over, to having to serve in order not to leave the Canadian tournament.

Unexpectedly, everything happened again Decisive game which was a reward for the Pole and a punishment for the Spaniards. Given the unpredictability that reigned throughout the match, Alcaraz said it enough, he imposed a logic that did not appear in the last games of the third set and finally beat a resilient Hurkacz 3-6, 7-6(2) and 7-6 (3). “I don’t know what happened to me, the only thing I was trying to do was stay calm until I regained my sensations,” said the Murcian who manages to equal his best streak of consecutive victories (14) and this after Upon his arrival in Toronto, he recalled that “there is always room for improvement”. No one can doubt that the world number one continues to improve and grow by knowing how to resist, knowing how to suffer.

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