Another day on the American hard court tour where Alcaraz suffers again and sweats profusely to win the game. Although this time he felt more comfortable than in the last two weeks, he faced a serve and net bomber who barely left the rest options such as Max Purcell. The Murcian was able to overcome in another match of comings and goings, but where with each passing day he makes bigger leaps in his goal of recovering his best level for the US Open. He came back from the set against, dominating in the second and knowing how to suffer in the third, and decidedly stands in the semifinals where the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (20th in the group) awaits. ranking).
The Murcian debuted against Purcell (70th in the standings), who despite being 26 years old was playing his second Masters 1000. The Australian used to play doubles and his style ratified it. Great server, who soon goes up to the net to take the point, both on serve and on return. Nor could Alcaraz be trusted because he already gave the surprise in Canada eliminating the host Aliassime and in Cincinnati he got rid of Ruud and Wawrinka.
And the Australian came out without any complex, with a good serve and net while the Murcian responded with great service and connecting matches before the constant rises of the rival. The games followed one another until Alcaraz relaxed at the worst moment and lost his serve to the Australian who was placed 5-3. Down again the Spaniard who had to go up again when he felt more comfortable. He tried and fought back but Purcell’s serves were missiles and he took the first set 6-4.
“You have to be attentive to everything that leaves us,” Ferrero warned him, who was aware that the opportunities to break his serve would be scarce and that he would have to be more precise than ever to achieve it. And he applied it again to number one who was beginning to see the holes in the Australian wall and made his first break of the game to go 3-0. From there, he patience before Purcell’s serves and concentration so as not to lose the precious income.
He needed to throw his wrist more than ever to get past Purcell at the net. Either he was looking for the angle, or he was shooting at the feet. But in the end Carlitos found the formula to face the powerful services of the doubles player and also dominating at the bottom of the court, he took the second set (6-3) and equalized the contest.
For the fifth consecutive match, the number one went to the third set and the patterns of all of them were repeated. He broke Carlitos, he grew as he had not been seen on the entire tour and had three break balls to put the pass to the semifinals on track but the irregularity returned and Purcell recovered to make it 3-3. The final phase of the game was entered and uncertainty once again reigned in the atmosphere. The number one felt good but a false step condemned him to elimination. He walked the wire again but this time Alcaraz was Alcaraz again, he knew how to suffer, he recovered his game and took a great game against Purcell (4-6, 6-3 and 6-4). Now it’s his turn to show his upward progression against another server who already made him suffer last week: the Polish Hubert Hurkacz. The days go by, the draw shrinks and all roads lead to a final against Novak Djokovic.
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