Algaraz begins his debut with a loss to Zverev

Published in: 11/13/2023 – 22:45Last Updated: 11/13/2023 – 22:43

4 minutes

The 20-year-old Spaniard was due to make his first appearance in the finals of the season last year, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.

After winning six titles this season, including the English Wimbledon Championships and the Indian Wells and Madrid Masters 1000 tournaments, Algaraz has established himself as a strong contender for the title, with a chance to face world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia. , in the finals.

But after losing on Monday for the fourth time in seven meetings with the seventh-seeded 26-year-old Zverev, who won the finals in 2018 and 2021, Algaraz faces the possibility of meeting Djokovic in the semi-finals. As a result of his loss on Monday.

But now he must make amends in his next two matches against Russians Daniil Medvedev III and Andrey Rublev V, who faced each other on Monday, and the former, who won the title in 2020 and runner-up in 2021, won. It was the eighth time in 10 meetings between them, 6-4 and 6-2 in two sets in one hour and 32 minutes. .

Algaraz suffered from problems with his lower back and left foot that kept him out of action from the Shanghai 1,000 Points Masters in early October, before his return at the 1000 Points Masters late last month. Paris, where he fell at the first hurdle at the hands of the unknown Russian, Roman Saviol.

The Spaniard, who has not won a title since being crowned Wimbledon champion last July with victory over Djokovic in the final, begins his campaign to defend his finals title with victory over Dane Holger Rooney on the greens on Sunday.

Algaraz exited in the semifinals of the Flushing Meadows tournament and has not shone since then on his Asian tour, as he reached the semifinals of the Beijing tournament and the eighth final at the Shanghai tournament.

The Spaniard said, “Small details decided the match and I lost because he was one of the best servers in professional association matches and I didn’t take chances when I had many opportunities to break serve.”

Before the tournament began, Djokovic received the trophy for finishing the year at the top of the professional rankings thanks to a narrow victory over Rohn in a match that lasted more than three hours on Sunday.

The Serbian said, “This is clearly the peak of the season. I think it’s every tennis player’s dream to end the year at number one in the world. It’s one of the hardest things in our sport.” , “Winning major tournament titles and being ranked number one in the world could be the pinnacle of the sport.” “It’s been a very long year for all the players and it’s a blessing to be able to stand here.”

“My service helped me a lot.”

The first set was tied as each player managed to grab a game on his opponent’s serve, and Zverev took a 2-1 lead in the third game, then 3-1 down in the sixth game where Alcarez responded to level at 3-3. Their way to the tiebreak was decided by the Spaniard at 7.-3, ending the set in 1 hour and 5 minutes.

But Zverev responded in the second game after saving a break point in the first game and made the difference in the second game when he led 2-0 and 3-0 on Algarez’s serve and that was enough for him. 6-3 in just 38 minutes to take the set safely.

“My serve helped me a lot. I saved a break point in the first game of the second set. You don’t want to. Lose a set and then lose a game on your serve against the second seed,” said the German, who like Algaras missed last year’s edition with a right ankle injury. Globally, therefore, I am happy.”

Zverev started the decisive third set confidently and had a chance to take it away from his Spanish opponent in the third game, but the latter leveled the situation before returning in the fifth, which left him trailing 2-3 and 2-4. Despite a chance to break serve later in the game, he was unable to recover. The ninth game did not take advantage, opening the way for his German opponent to decide 6-4 in 48 minutes, and the match lasted two. Hour 31 minutes.

© 2023 AFP