Pablo Carreño, with all the letters

A few days ago, a specialized journalist from

made an unfortunate reference on Twitter to

, who that day had beaten Ricardas Berankis in the third round of the US Open and was continuing his journey in New York.

"Pablo Carreño Busta, semifinalist of 2017 (yes, that happened ...)".

And since social networks, you know, are loaded by the devil, she immediately found the replica of a professional tennis player.

“So a guy who's been a world

and played in the Masters Cup made it to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam?

And that is worthy of a sarcastic comment about a good result… ”, reproached the American Ryan Harrison, today off the hook in the

ranking, but in his 40th day in the world.

More gasoline was added to the fire, because Nick Kyrgios burst in from Australia, with as many tricks on his racket as he had a mess in his head: "If clay didn't exist, this guy wouldn't be anywhere near the

."

The one from Canberra later deleted the controversial tweet, but the criticism ran like wildfire and today causes a couple of blushes.

They both forgot, perhaps, to take a look at the Asturian's curriculum and attend to his journey on the professional circuit, surely envied by a large squad of teammates and underlined again yesterday, when the Spaniard contained Denis Shapovalov's torrential offensive in a Great game of 4h 08m (3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 0-6 and 6-3) and he again reached, yes, again, the semifinals of the great New Yorker.

Carreño, 29, does not need to demonstrate at this point who he is and where he is, because the facts put him in his place and point to him as a player who has been able to settle in a privileged sphere.

The stigma that recurrently surrounds the Spanish tennis player weighs on him, easily circumscribed to the realm of the earth when either Carreño or others such as Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista, Feliciano López or Fernando Verdasco, for example, have been showing that they have tools to function. in other territories.

Without going any further, the four titles owned by the Gijón (Winston-Salem, Moscow, Estoril and Chengdu) have the hallmark of cement, where his flat shot gains edge and his coordinated mobility cover the track with guarantees.

“If I am in the semifinals again it is because I have the level.

That is why it is very important for me, for my confidence, to continue working very hard and continue like this ”, he claimed yesterday, after resisting the thousand attacks of Canadian Shapovalov and disembarking in the penultimate round, in which he will meet on Friday with the stumbling block of Alexander Zverev.

“I am very happy, it is an incredible feeling to be able to be here again.

The game was very good, I don't know if it was enjoyed from the outside as much as I did on the court.

I have given everything, and I think the level of play has been very high, "said the Asturian, who in his day was blamed for being a tender adversary, but who has been showing his fangs for a long time and is never a good opponent taste for the one in front, whoever he is.

Trained by Samuel López and having taken a significant physical leap from the hand of coach Walter Navarro, Carreño (27th on the ATP list) took advantage of the quarantine in Barcelona to squeeze himself to the fullest and did not hesitate to re-engage in the activity.

He was especially excited, he had told a while ago, to participate in the Games and win a match at Wimbledon.

It may not be, but it looks like New York.

He dodged the opening hole to five sets against Uchiyama, and then he was exercising soberly against Mitchel Krueger and Ricardas Berankis, to later find the

of Novak Djokovic, whom he had managed to entangle.

Yesterday he placated Shapovalov and is therefore back on the top four poster at Flushing Meadows.

Savia nueva, the definitive arrival of those born in the nineties, he being the oldest and the fifth of that decade who sneaks into two Grand Slam semifinals, along with Dominic Thiem (5), Milos Raonic (3), Grigor Dimitrov (3) and Zverev (2).

“Three incredible players have met at the same time, with unusual longevity.

It would be important for tennis that there are new champions and I hope it is me, but there are still great players and some with more experience than me in the final rounds of this type of tournament, "he said.

In any case, Carreño has long ceased to be that angelic-faced Pablo to definitely earn the respect of colleagues and fans.

Not so for Kyrgios, but perhaps the Australian will end up changing his mind.

It is Pablo Carreño, with ñ despite the fact that the Anglo-Saxon label of the tournament (Carreno) snatches it from him.

Carreño, a competitor with all the letters.