Carlos Alcaraz walks around the St. Jakobshalle (the home of the great Roger Federer, already another fan) despondent in search of the solution, but there is no cure worthwhile. Not against Felix-Augger Aliassime, a rival who is starting to get awkward for the Spaniard, who tosses and turns the jar, but comes up against the cold digital reality: three duels, three defeats. Last year, the Canadian stopped him at the US Open, injured by; a month and a half ago he met him again at ka Davis in La Fonteta de Valencia, but strongly accused of exhaustion of his triumphal route through New York and also lost; and now comes a third clash resolved in the same way, with a defeat (6-3 and 6-2, in 1h 21m) which vanishes the possibility of playing in the ATP 500 final in Basel.

“It’s really cold in Canada, so half the year we play indoors and it seems to be paying off,” jokes Aliassime, governor from start to finish of a one-sided game. He sends the right hand of the Canadian without discussion and that of the Murcian squeaks, the current king of the circuit but out of tune against an opponent who seems to have taken the measure and who hits the ball almost as hard as him. In terms of speed, both travel a few speeds above the others, and in the face-to-face, Aliassime uncorks his best tennis, the one that marks him as another of the protagonists of the new era and as the best of the season (23 wins, four losses) in the format on the insidesheltered.

Since he established his first major and would occupy the chair of the world circuit for the first time, Alcaraz continues to enjoy. The Spaniard is accumulating considerable fatigue, despite the spirit of his age (19), and the emotional wear and tear of a career rich in strong emotions is also palpable. Since arriving at the top, the boy from El Palmar has shrunk his arm slightly and the record (4-3) reflects a career after the US Open jerky and irregular. Before landing in Basel, he lost to David Goffin in the first round in Astana, but when he arrived in Switzerland he got back on track with successive victories over Kack Draper, Botic van de Zandschulp and his friend Pablo Carreno. However, the vertiginous Aliassime again served as a trap.

The Canadian took advantage of his rival’s deflation in the final stretch of the first set – eight consecutive points – and continued to rob him of rhythm in the second. That’s how he knocked him down, that’s how he strengthened his bid to contest the Turin Masters – he’s seventh in the annual race, more than 500 points ahead of Taylor Fritz, his pursuer – and that’s how he stood out again, unmistakable on serve and devastating on conduct: after the titles in Florence and Antwerp, in addition to the 12 victories he has chained, Aliassime will appear in the final this Sunday (3:00 p.m., #Vamos) as the third player with the most victories -52, only behind Stefanos Tsitsipas ( 57) and Alcaraz (55) – and as big favorite against Dane Holger Rune.

In the next round of the semi-finals, the Nordic, another young man (19 years old) with a good appearance, cut the other Spanish option, represented by Roberto Bautista from Castellón, in a double tiebreaker: 7-6 (1) and 7-6 (6), in 2h 01m. After the Basel episode, the calendar offers the meetings of the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 (next week), the Masters (from November 13 to 20) and the culmination of the Davis Cup finals (22-27).

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