Alcaraz progresses pending his knee

Carlos Alcaraz returned to the stage that saw him off last year with nails, the Palais Omnisports de Bercy, which now receives him with honors and applauds the victory: double 6-4 (in 1h 12m) against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, who put a lot of He tried hard at first and then, seeing that there was no way to sink his teeth into the rival, he simply let himself be carried away by inertia.

Today, much more is needed to perform for the Spaniard, who wears the number one on the circuit and rushes through a season at full speed, at

and breathless from day one.

Therefore, the erosion of so much whipping and so many parties is noticeable;

There are already 68 on the counter, distributed in 17 tournaments and the double commitment in the Davis Cup, in February (Marbella) and September (Valencia).

At this point, Alcaraz competes against the others and at the same time looks askance at his chassis.

The 19-year-old Murcian jumped onto the Parisian track with protective tape on his left knee, the same one that forced him to undergo an examination before competing in Bercy.

"It's nothing serious, I'm fine", he reassured him three days ago in the preamble to the tournament.

“This year I have played a lot and at the end of the season all the players have some problem”, relativized the one from El Palmar, whose successes and splendid professional takeoff have forced him to stay on the court like few others;

in fact, only the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (79) and the Canadian Felix-Augger Aliassime (78) have played more games than him (68), who still has two more appointments pending: the Masters Cup (in Turin, from November 13 to 20) and the outcome of Davis (in Malaga, from 22 to 27).

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“Now the physical problems come to light and it's normal, I feel fine.

You have to deal with them and show the best possible version”, repeats the most precocious governor in history, who, when he was crowned on September 11 in New York, surpassed the Australian Lleyton Hewitt, his predecessor, who was crowned in 2001 with only 20 years and nine months.

Alcaraz pampers the joint and becomes aware of a demanding final stretch in which he will have to clench his teeth.

She didn't force Nishioka too much, who argued the first set and resigned himself to the second, aware that at one time or another her pulse was going to drop to the other side.

The Japanese (27 years old, 38th in the ATP) scratched a break at the beginning, but the Murcian counterattacked with two to pave the victory and signed a third in the resolution;

enough to settle a game in which he dosed in the supports to prevent greater evils and in which he did not really need to step on the accelerator.

A record of 3h 31m

He decided the number one with 30 winners, for the rival's seven, and with nine

.

In this way, he will face the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (6-0 and 7-5 against the Italian Fabio Fognini) this Thursday in the round of 16 (at around 1:00 p.m., Movistar and #Vamos), and he is only one victory away from guaranteeing his continuity on the throne at the end of the week.

Only Rafael Nadal can take it from him, who will face the American Tommy Paul not before 7:30 p.m.

Satisfied, Alcaraz landed in the same round he reached a year ago, when he fell to Hugo Gaston.

"Happy 23. I love you very much, Álvaro", he dedicated to one of his brothers before retiring to the locker room with his duty fulfilled.

“I would say I played really well.

Of course I have to improve many things for the next round, but a debut is never easy.

I have to get used to these conditions because they are different from Basel, but I think I have served well [85% of points with the first ones], I have gone well to the net [11 hits in 12 climbs] and I have also done well since the line”, he explained while saying he had not perceived a particularly notable change in the rivals for playing against him, the new king: “Not too much, I would say they are somewhat more aggressive”.

Before Alcaraz intervened, the 2020 champion, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, fell (6-4, 2-6 and 7-5 with Alex de Miñaur), and Aliassime had to work hard against Michael Ymer (6-7 (8) , 6-4 and 7-6(6).In fact, both starred in the longest three-set match in the history of the tournament, 3h 31m; the absolute record corresponds to the stake in the 1991 final between Pete Sampras and Guy Forget , resolved in five, after 3h 43m.The Greek Tsitsipas, meanwhile, progressed by beating Daniel Evans 6-3 and 6-4 without setbacks, in the line of the North American Frances Tiafoe (6-3 and 7-5 against Jack Draper ).

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