French Open 2022: Carlos Alcaraz cruises to a quarter-final duel with Alexander Zverev
Carlos Alcaraz didn't let anything burn in the last match of the day on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The Spaniard defeated Karen Khachanov with a strong performance 6: 1, 6: 4 and 6: 4 and now meets Alexander Zverev.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: May 29, 2022, 11:33 pm
Actually, there should be enough time between the last game of the day session and the only game in the night session to make the obligatory change of audience and to get the obligations after the match over with - keyword: on-court interview and celebrations with the fans - without getting into too much time trouble, to be able to really meet the start date of 8:45 p.m.
Actually. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Rafael Nadal threw a spanner in the works for the organizers on Sunday afternoon and fought for almost four and a half hours to get into the last eight - with the better end for the Mallorcan. Of course, it didn't help much that Alex Corretja pressed hard on the tube in the subsequent on-court interview. With a little delay, Carlos Alcaraz and Karen Khachanov stepped onto the largest court in the Stade Roland Garros to end an eventful day of the game.
Khachanov too error-prone
Obviously, Carlos Alcaraz didn't want to join the stumbling favorites - Nadal and Zverev had to work hard to get into the quarterfinals. The young Spaniard started like a fireman, got the first break of the game early and didn't let Karen Khachanov breathe. He acknowledged this quick start with mistakes en masse and immediately gave his opponent another break.
Accordingly, the two men stayed short in the first round, which quickly went to Carlos Alcaraz 6:1. Khachanov caught himself as a result, but in the seventh game in round two it was Alcaraz again who should succeed in breaking. The Russian couldn't counter again - and so the second sentence was gone after just over an hour and 20 minutes. And with 6: 4 for Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz in the quarterfinals against Zverev
Apparently he wanted to get this working day over with as quickly as possible. Also because Karen Khachanov could have designed set two differently with a subtle increase in performance. And because the 19-year-old shooting star didn't really do everything at the highest level, as had been seen from the Spaniard on other days. However, the Spaniard still had no real problems with Karen Khachanov.
The Russian's only rebellion: The rebreak to 3: 3 in set three, which Khachanov secured with powerful cheers from the spectators. These should be really ecstatic a little later - Alcaraz managed another break. And how. With a wonderful tweener praise after a rally worth seeing, Khachanov got the 4:3, the preliminary decision. Towards the end, the Spaniard had to tremble a bit, after almost half a dozen match points wasted, Alcaraz finally closed the sack with his own serve.
In the quarterfinals, Carlos Alcaraz now meets the German Alexander Zverev. He won against surprise man Bernape Zapata Miralles in three contested sets. In the second quarterfinals in the upper half of the tableau, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic meet.
rgmap