Carlos Alcaraz, current number 2 of international men’s tennis. (AFP)
The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, number 2 in the world, defeated the Brazilian Mateus Alves (556th) with a double 6-4, in the restart this Wednesday of a match that was suspended the day before due to rain at the ATP 500 in Rio de janeiro.
alcaraz19 years old and defending champion, was one game (6-4 and 5-3) away from winning, when that and other matches in the first phase were suspended due to the heavy rainfall that fell on the clay of the Jockey Club.
In the resumption of the match, which was restarted with great intensity 22 hours after suspensionthe Spanish prodigy sentenced the key with the serve in favor in the second ‘game’ played.
In this way, at the Guga Kuerten stadium, with a capacity for 6,200 spectators, he got rid of an opponent who entered the draw with a ‘wild card’ and made him suffer much more than expected.
The Iberian lost the first two ‘games’ on Tuesday, but came back from behind in the seventh game (4-3) to later win the first set 6-4.
Back to round 2 in Rio! ?
His next opponent: ??@fabiofogna ?
?️: @TennisTV | ??@carlosalcarazpic.twitter.com/Z3fam62KI2
— ATP Tour in Spanish (@ATPTour_ES) February 22, 2023
Then, with effort and the public against it, he got ahead and was one breath away from taking the game before the suspension of a game that lasted an hour and 56 minutes in total.
Although combative in his first ATP 500 tournament, alves He ended up succumbing to the Iberian, who last Sunday was crowned at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, where he reappeared after three months off due to injury.
Alcaraz will clash in the round of 16 with the Italian Fabio Fognini (86th), who beat Chilean Tomás Barrios (196th) 6-2 and 6-3 on Wednesday, in another of the games suspended and resumed on this day.
Before Fognini, ‘Carlitos’ hopes to follow the path of 2022, when in the Brazilian city he launched a conquering campaign that made him the youngest tennis player to reach the top of the world ranking.
If he wins the crown in Rio, the 2022 US Open champion will tie at the top of the ATP ranking with the Serbian Novak Djokovic, who will nevertheless continue as number 1 for having the most points in the mandatory tournaments.
