Carlos Alcaraz won the first Cup that bears his name this Thursday by beating Roberto Bautista from Castellón 7-6 (1), 1-6 and 10-7 in 1 hour and 53 minutes in a packed Murcia Sports Palace. burst on the occasion of this exhibition match organized by the Autonomous Community and the Tennis Federation of the Region of Murcia at Christmas time.
The current world number 2 and winner of 12 ATP titles, six of them this year, and the United States Open 2022 and Wimbledon 2023 as the most notable, was playing a day after having faced and defeated the Serbian Novak Djokovic, the leader of the ATP, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4 in the exhibition held in Riyadh.
Having just landed from Saudi Arabia, he faced a combative opponent and did what he does best. 1,726 days had passed since he played his last match in Murcia, at the 2019 ATP Challenger Costa Cálida, and the presence of the newly elected Best Spanish Athlete of 2023 aroused unusual expectation. So much so that the 7,500 seats on sale for this event at the Palacio de los Deportes were sold out in less than an hour and a half.
It was a solidarity meeting – the money raised went to charity – and a great opportunity to see Carlitos, at 20 years old, hitting the ball at home against a veteran rival, 35 and ranked 57th in the ranking. ATP -third Spaniard after Alcaraz and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina from Malaga-.
Alcaraz, raising 15-40, scored the first game of the match but it soon became clear that Bautista was not willing to simply be a guest at the party and he leveled the score by winning his blank serve and then, for the rest, he had a 30-40 that did not materialize.
The one from La Plana, who became number 9 on the list in November 2019 and has accumulated 11 individual titles as a professional, would not make it easy for his partner on the Spanish Davis Cup team. In fact, he equaled 2, 3, 4 and 5 on the fast track installed at the Palace.
The fronton that is Bautista resisted the Alcaraz cyclone, less fine than usual, although leaving points typical of a player of his class.
In a festive atmosphere – “come on, posh!” and “marry me!”, they even told Carlos, to which he responded laughing – the match continued to go on very evenly and Bautista had his fourth and fifth breaking point. to go 5-6. He didn’t take advantage of them either because three good serves from the Palmar native got him out of trouble. He was about to subtract to win the set but the player from Castellón remained firm, throwing the ball into the air and forcing the tie break at 6-6 In sudden death, Alcaraz’s superiority was clear and he left his best for that outcome, which he decided with a clear 7-1 in his favor and several points in 1 hour and 2 minutes of battle.
The second round began with Bautista again plugged in and, as he was the first to serve, he took the initiative. He then went 0-40 ahead and, at 30-40, finally broke Alcaraz’s serve on his eighth break point in the match. The problem that the 0-2 in the set represented was quickly solved by El Palmar by taking advantage of the first break option he had with a great forehand. However, he got mixed up and gave up serve again to an opponent who did not lose his strength and went 1-4, raising two break points against him.
A new break and a service won with authority by Bautista tied the Castellón player in sets after another 37 minutes of the match.
That gave rise to the super tie break, which is the way in which this 1st Carlos Alcaraz Cup would be resolved. That final fight was started by Bautista with his positive inertia (0-1 and 1-2 and 2-3) and the match rose in temperature and so did Alcaraz’s tennis, who went 9-3 with seven points in a row. The man from Castellón made four in a row when he seemed defeated to give him excitement at the end (9-7) but the Murcian closed it out with a winning backhand after another 14 minutes.
With two victories in or in these two exhibitions and without time for much rest, he is already thinking about the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season. In that major he will have the start of a new course for Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil, although without him by his side since the Onteniente player is convalescing from an operation on his left knee.
At that appointment, already in 2024, Carlos will arrive with the aim of continuing to grow in his tennis to fight for number 1 with Djokovic and knowing that behind him appear Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune .