Carlitos reigns within the chaos

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🎾 Jack Draper vs Carlos Alcaraz

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Carlos Alcaraz returns to a Masters 1000 semifinal a year later. Where else but here? Yes, in a place that feels like home: Indian Wells. The Spaniard signaled to the camera that he should buy a house there, and Carlos is capable of pulling through matches here, despite the prevailing wind and the chaos it brings to his tennis. Fran Cerúndolo was not far from the Spaniard, but he left the court as the defeated one (6-3 7-6).

Alcaraz said at the end of the match that tennis is a sport where winning is what matters. "You don't need to play well to win. You have to do it with the level you have that day," he opined. And today, Carlos' level was not excessively high. In fact, in several parts of the match, Cerúndolo was better than him. Alcaraz simply won the most important points, tipping the balance in his favor.

At the start of the match, both were surprised by a well-known factor in these parts: the wind. It blew strongly, to the point that both had to figure out how to hit to feel comfortable within the playing conditions. It was the Argentine who did it first, showing more accuracy and clarity, creating up to six break points at the beginning of the duel, all saved by a great Alcaraz. If there's something the young man from Murcia can take as a positive to the hotel, it's how well he played in the crucial moments.

While Carlos continued to save break points, he started feeling better and better until breaking Fran's serve. Fran saw that he was better than his opponent in the first half hour of the match, but that didn't translate into a break. The same old story, if you forgive the big players, you end up paying for it.

Alcaraz falls into disorder

Despite ending the first set with good sensations, Carlos didn't start the second one on the right foot. Cerúndolo digested what happened in the first set much better and began to attack and distribute the game against a tremendously disordered Alcaraz. A drop shot, serve-volley, return-net, winners from every angle. Carlos behaved in those moments like a magician pulling out all possible tricks from his suitcase. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not. This led to him losing serve and being 1-4 down.

Nevertheless, after what happened in the first set and knowing Cerúndolo as we do, we knew that the El Palmar native would have his chance. And indeed he did, organizing himself at the right moment and returning to his offensive version, not allowing himself to be attacked and going for the points. This allowed him to recover the deficit in the score and take it all to the final tiebreak.

There, once again, as in the rest of the match, Alcaraz showed his best version in that crucial moment. Because that was the key, that the Spaniard played the key points better. Cerúndolo ended the match with a 1/9 in converted break points, compared to Alcaraz's 2/3. Carlos was superior in the tiebreak, proving that champions also know how to win when they are not particularly brilliant.

In this way, Alcaraz returns to a Masters 1000 semifinal (it's curious to think he only played one in all of 2024) and will clash with one of the great sensations of the year, Jack Draper. The British player is on fire and, like Carlos, has not dropped a set throughout the Indian Wells tournament. This Saturday is one not to be missed.

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