ATP Masters Montreal: Carlos Alcaraz - return to hard court as a big challenge
For the first time since the beginning of April,Carlos Alcaraz will play on hard court in Montreal. A very difficult task, as the Spaniard emphasized before the start of the tournament.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Aug 07, 2022, 08:31 am
The memories of his last tournament on hard court so far, they couldn't be better for Carlos Alcaraz : At the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami, the 19-year-old's star finally rose, with some great performances he won his first tournament in Florida on this level. The one in Madrid should follow during the clay court season.
It is also the teenager's last title win to date, who recently did not live up to his role as favorite in either Hamburg or Umag. Alcaraz had to admit defeat to an Italian: While Lorenzo Musetti kept the upper hand in the Hanseatic city, Jannik Sinner proved to be clearly too strong in Croatia, especially in sets two and three.
Places for Alcaraz too fast?
But now Alcaraz is going back to hard court. Not an easy change, as he emphasized immediately before the start of the tournament in Montreal. "I come from the sand, so the places look too fast for me," said the fourth in the world rankings on the sidelines of the draw carried out on Friday.
Speaking of the draw: it meant well for Alcaraz. The second seeded Iberian has to deal with Tommy Paul or Vasek Pospisil after a bye at the beginning. The first seeded opponent of the fourth in the world rankings would be Marin Cilic, and Andrey Rublev is threatening as a quarter-final opponent.