The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, world No.2, was eliminated 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 by the Chilean Nicolas Jarry (21st), Saturday, in the semi-final of the ATP 250 tournament in Buenos Aires, where he was making his comeback on clay.
Title holder in Argentina, Alcaraz played his first tournament there this year since his elimination in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open at the end of January.
In fact, since his triumph at Wimbledon last year, he has not won a single title in nine contests.
“It’s a difficult defeat for me,”
the Spaniard reacted after the match,
“it hurt me a lot.
There are many things to improve.
I played good tennis but I am far from my real level
.
The 20-year-old, who had just sidelined Jarry on the way to his coronation on the London turf, led 2-0 in their confrontations before this third face-to-face.
But this time, he came across a particularly solid opponent on his commitment, who never conceded the slightest break point in the first set and made the difference in the decisive game.
Alcaraz managed to break from the start, during the second set, an advantage immediately lost because Jarry returned the favor, before doing it again in the eighth game to then win.
“It was a complicated tournament, the first on clay in a long time (...), I didn't know how to seize the opportunities, I didn't play the tie-break well, you can feel it,”
said Alcaraz.
“The third time is the charm
,” declared Jarry about his first victory over Alcaraz.
“Carlos is one of the best players in the world, so it means a lot, especially after the battles I had a few days ago.
“It was very hard physically, so I’m very happy
. ”
The 28-year-old Chilean will try to win a 4th title on the ATP circuit on Sunday.
He will face in the final the Argentinian Facundo Diaz Acosta, who defeated his compatriot Federico Coria 6-2, 6-3 in the other half.