ATP Marbella: Alcaraz in the footsteps of Zverev
Carlos Alcaraz's successful run in Marbella continues. The 17-year-old Spaniard reached the semi-finals at the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open, making him the youngest participant in the semifinals of an ATP Tour event since Alexander Zverev in Hamburg 2014.
by Florian Heer
last edit: Apr 10, 2021, 07:23 am
It was late on the Costa del Sol and the floodlights were already shining with full force on the Court Manolo Santana when Alcaraz defeated number three seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-2, 6-4 on Friday evening. He was able to successfully utilize five of his eight breakballs and after an hour and 18 minutes stretch his fist towards his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and his entourage.
In the usual shy manner, the teenager from Murcia then stepped in front of the microphone to face the questions of “world television” on the square. These interviews take place in English, which Alcaraz does not yet easily get off the lips. “It was a tough match against strong opponents. But I try to play my game and be as aggressive as possible, ”the young star commented on his appearance and, to the applause of several hundred spectators, sent afterwards to continue enjoying it in front of a home crowd.
Munar with a rising shape curve
Alcaraz, who only got a wild card for the main draw after Alexander Zverev's cancellation, is now facing his compatriot Jaume Munar. The 23-year-old Mallorcan fought the Belarusian Ilya Ivasha with 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in the afternoon. With a playing time of just under three hours, it was the longest of the day.
With Munar, too, the shape curve is pointing steeply upwards again. In the previous week, number 99 in the ATP world rankings was still in the final of the ATP Challenger tournament in Marbella and only announced a few days ago that it was happy to have reached a level again, like at the time of his career high at position 52 two years ago .
"I've worked a lot over the past few months," said Munar. "There have been a lot of ups and downs in the last few years. I was able to improve that. My tennis is very good, although today I was more nervous than necessary. My personal feeling is that I am a more mature tennis player with more weapons. I am also mentally become more stable. "
Alcaraz and Munar will meet for the first time on Saturday.
Four local heroes in the semifinals
The second semi-final will also be a purely Spanish matter. Pablo Carreno Busta, the number one of the tournament, had no problems with his 6-4, 6-0 success over Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea and now meets the four of the seed list Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The 33-year-old Catalan beat the Slovak Norbert Gombos with 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4. The three-sentence thriller lasted two hours and 47 minutes.