A Carlos Alcaraz (2) with a very high level has managed to overcome the second round of the Australian Open. The Murcian improved his first serve and won this Thursday in his 200th ATP match against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego by 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 and 7-6 (3) in three hours and 24 minutes.
His next opponent will be the Chinese Juncheng Shang, 18 years old, who participates in the tournament as a guest, after defeating the Indian Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 and 6-4.
“I am very happy with my performance. The match was complicated by the wind. Even though I lost the second set, I was there. “It was a great game,” he commented after the crash, alluding to the intense wind that shook Melbourne Park throughout this Thursday.
Although the match was held during the day, the temperature was lower than the other day, in which the Murcian played at night, a fact that benefited a hopeful Sonego who would have more time to react to the lashes of Alcaraz.
Their percentage of first serves in play (64%) was higher than at the start of the first match but the problems did not disappear, mainly due to lack of variety and success, after scoring 67% of the points with first serves.
The current Wimbledon champion again forgave the first three break options but did not lose his composure, fulfilling one of his objectives, as he himself indicated in his last press conference, and hit the first blow from the rest to establish the 4- 3 and serve in your favor.
This ‘break’ helped him win a tasteless first round in front of a Rod Laver crowd that came after witnessing one of the most exciting matches of the current edition, with the comeback of the Polish Iga Swiatek (1) over the American Danielle Collins .
Both tennis players clearly improved their service during a second set that did not feature any break points. The Italian increased his percentage of first to 83% and the Murcian to 67%, of which he took 75%.
The tie was not broken until a tiebreaker game in which the young man from Murcia made a couple of big mistakes that would end up tipping the balance towards Sonego, who was firm and did not concede any points for free, to establish the 1-1 to sets in the light.
Alcaraz’s great virtue compared to the vast majority of professional tennis players is that he has excessive fun during his matches. Without a doubt, a quality that is the result of her unquestionable talent. Thus, a situation that may seem dangerous a priori, such as a 1-1 against Sonego in the second round of a ‘slam, is not perceived as such due to the tranquility inspired by her exceptional shots.
The second ranked player in the world broke at the first opportunity in the third set and celebrated with extra enthusiasm in front of his bench, released by the tension accumulated in the tie-break of the second.
This break helped him win a third set in which the main aspect that improved was his service (71% correct, 88% of points with first), despite the fact that he had fewer winners and more unforced errors than in the previous sleeve.
The comfort on the serve spread to the rest area, with greater energy due to less wear and tear on the serve, and a ‘break’ was scored again at the first change of a fourth set that would be the last.
However, Sonego responded in kind and returned the set to a tie that made Alcaraz uncomfortable for the first time, who frowned and hit the net with his racket in one of the exchanges due to his anger.
This bitterness gave him order, especially in the face of a tie-break that would feature a concentrated Alcaraz who did not make the same childish errors that he did during the second set tiebreaker game.
He finished the match with 43 winners and 34 unforced errors, but the positive note was a first serve that improved considerably as the match progressed.
With this victory, the Murcian equaled his best performance on the banks of the Yarra, recorded in the 2022 edition, in which he fell to the then Italian favorite Matteo Berrettini in five sets.
