Alcaraz says goodbye to Roland Garros with his head held high

Zverev takes an exciting duel that exceeded 3 hours

MADRID, 31 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz said goodbye to Roland Garros on Tuesday, the second 'Grand Slam' of the season, after falling at the hands of German Alexander Zverev in an intense quarterfinal match (6-4, 6-4, 4- 6 and 7-6(7)) that reached 3 hours and 22 minutes in length.

Alcaraz got up strong and required the best response from his opponent when he had the match lost. Zverev was cold when he should have been the most and knew how to find a way to stop the emergence of the Murcian, who had already beaten him this year in Madrid. He was close to that fifth set, but the German shot ex officio at the most delicate moment.

The number three in the world collected his experience in the Philippe-Chatrier and was more solid than a month ago in the Manolo Santana of the Caja Mágica. Quite the opposite happened to Alcaraz, who perhaps paid a little for the nervousness of the appointment, despite the fact that he had two options to break the first serve of his rival, which would surely have calmed him down.

The one from Hamburg overcame that first delicate moment and knew how to control the intense rallies. He attacked Alcaraz's backhand to try to get away from the Spaniard's forehand and the Spaniard did not find the rhythm with his best shot, committing too many unforced errors that made Zverev's task easier (16 in the first set).

In addition, the pupil of Juan Carlos Ferrero did not find much help in his powerful service either. He did not connect many 'firsts' and that also weighed him down, especially in the fifth game where he gave up his serve, a disadvantage that he could not recover because the number three in the world, after those problems at the beginning, only conceded two more points with his service .

The second set did not bring the expected reaction, mainly because Zverev continued without offering too many loopholes. Yes, Alcaraz improved somewhat, who managed to start adding more 'winners', especially to get the serves out of him.

But the feeling was that the duel was still in control of his rival, more settled and calm due to the advantage on the scoreboard, and that he did not miss the return of the Murcian's errors to break again and take an advantage that he could not wipe away either. from El Palmar, despite the fact that he showed his quality to have a break option and equalize at five, but he was not fine again.

The semifinal became more expensive for an Alcaraz who needed not only to improve almost outstandingly, which began by stopping the bleeding of unforced errors (32), but also for Zverev to 'help' by loosening something, especially with his service and with his backhand With the two hands.

And he did, Alcaraz raised the 'Philippe-Chatrier' with sensational blows, some left to the memory and frustration of his opponent, who could not believe what was happening. The Spaniard took advantage of his rival's doubts in the tenth game to break serve and close with a 6-4 that opened the game again.

In the fourth, ultimately final, absolutely anything could happen. Alcaraz, sixth favorite in France, went from more to less -especially due to Zverev's strength with the backhand- maintaining the level of exhibitions offered in this same Roland Garros. A matter of millimeters in some blows and an unusual confidence of the German led the match to the 'tie break'.

Alcaraz died with everything but could not prevent the defeat in the quarterfinals. Zverev's pulse did not shake and at the second option of 'match point' he clenched his fists to the sky of Paris, aware of the difficulty of his victory. His next opponent in the semifinals will come from the Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal pairing.