It could not be. Carlos Alcaraz wasted a match point yesterday and fell 6-7 (4), 7-6 (7) and 6-3 after three hours and 19 minutes of play against the American Tommy Paul, in his debut at the Montreal Masters 1,000.
The second seed in the Canadian tournament surrendered to Paul after leading 4-1 in the second set and forgiving a match ball at 7-6 in the tie-break, which was his third loss in 15 matches played this year on fast surface.
Montreal was left without the champion of the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells and Madrid and without the player who has won the most titles this year (four), tied with his compatriot Rafa Nadal, absent in Canada, and the one who has played the most finals, six .
Wearing a fluorescent red shirt and blue shorts, the world’s ‘number four’ had managed to put the clash downhill by taking an intense and even first set in the tie-break, 7-4, after losing a break in the third game. It seemed that the most difficult moment was behind him, when he escaped 3-0 with an early break in the second set.
The Spaniard was ahead 4-1, but was met with the reaction of a brave Paul, who came from behind and forced a playoff in which he won 9-7 to fully reopen the match.
It was a psychological blow for Alcaraz, who had match point at 7-6 in the tiebreak, before dropping three straight points. He completely changed the inertia of the match and Paul took advantage of it to continue pressing the accelerator in the decisive set, in which, after annulling two break balls in the opening game, he achieved the ‘break’ that opened the way for him to a fast 4-1.
Alcaraz shot with pride and saved four match balls with his serve to try to find a way to reopen the clash. He reached 3-5 and a ‘break’ ball at 30-40 that could change the history of the match, but Paul annulled it with a powerful service winner. There the Murcian’s options ended.
Meanwhile, the morning session in Montreal did smile on Roberto Bautista and Pablo Carreño, who advanced to the round of 16 after beating, respectively, the American Jenson Brooksby (7-5, 6-1) and the Danish Holger Rune (6-0, 6). -3).
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