Effective rhymes with Alcaraz. “No one has ever been so good, at that age,” said John McEnroe, who was still amazed by number one. It was not an exceptional match, but with efficiency and precision, aggressively pressing at every opportunity to get ahead on the scoreboard, the Murcian phenomenon beat Alexander Zverev in three sets and qualified for the semifinals of the US Open. “Today I surprised myself,” he admitted smiling. “In other games it has been difficult for me to break and today I managed to do it the first time. “I have been forceful.”
At 20 years old, he is absorbing experiences with each game, with each rival. Twelve months ago he was competing in his first semifinal of a big one. He is now about to play his fourth in a row. His confidence has been skyrocketing. “These results come thanks to the work I’m doing, and the players I face have to play at a high level, for a long time, to be able to beat me,” Carlitos analyzed. “I feel with an advantage in the Grand Slams. I look very good physically and mentally, which may weigh on the players”.
Such is the confidence he has in himself that he is eager to play another final against Novak Djokovic, a match that the tournament organization and the fans also dreamed of on the first day. “Now we are closer than at the beginning of the championship,” he joked. “It would be great to face Novak in New York, but we both have a tough semi-final ahead of us.”
He only has one obstacle left to overcome to reach the final and that rock in his path is called Daniil Medvedev. “To beat Carlos, I have to be 11 out of 10, because he does incredible things. The last two times I lost quite easily,” acknowledged the third seed. ‘He has all the hits. And more extra power than the other players. He is good on the forehand, on the backhand, he can cut the ball, make drop shots. I have to serve better than I have done so far, get my shots on the line. I need to be there 100% of the time and be better.”
At the bottom of the draw, Djokovic will seek his place in the final against the American Ben Shelton, who overthrew his compatriot Frances Tiafoe. The 20-year-old, the only one of the semi-finalists who is not seeded, used his powerful serve (up to 240 km/h) to defeat his friend in four sets. “Ben has been putting out some real bombs this tournament. When he is on duty, he is a player who is very difficult to play against, especially because he is left-handed,” predicted Djokovic.
Something that Shelton and Alcaraz have in common, in addition to age, is their way of enjoying themselves on the court. “He is a player that I like to watch. He has a great time on the track and shows it with smiles,” explained the Murcian. “He is very aggressive and he has great shots. He is going to play against one of the best in history. We will see how he does it, but the situations that he is experiencing for the first time he is handling with great maturity. “It’s going to be complicated for Djokovic.”
Although he has never met the Serbian in competition, the American knows well what is coming his way. “When you face someone who has been in this situation so many times and who comes out victorious on so many occasions, that stays ingrained in your mind,” explained Shelton, who a year ago was the United States college tennis champion. But he also gave himself opportunities. “It is an advantage, due to my style of play, to face someone who has not played with me before. I think I can put some things on the table that you don’t see in normal matches on the ATP circuit. I hope to bring different and hopefully disruptive things this Friday.”
