On this seemingly bright Friday, knives are flying on the slopes of Asia. They will be drawn by Carlos Alcaraz, making his debut in Beijing, but not by Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas or Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, two talents in difficult times who continue to run out of steam without much explanation. Or maybe yes: in tennis, the head is worth as much or even more than the best shot. Neither is having his best days – the first disoriented and the second unrecognizable – and both are intercepted on the first day of competition, while this day also puts Iga Swiatek in the lead in Tokyo and confirms that the Polish (6-) 2nd , 2-6 and 6-4 against Veronika Kudermetova) she has little gas left in the tank and blames the loss of the throne in favor of Aryna Sabalenka. The course is endless and tough, but Alcaraz, cleared after a twenty-day layoff, says he has conserved ammunition.
“I want to play well here to get closer to number one. I have worked well and I am confident of achieving good results by the end of the year,” he warned before the event, which promises a correct effort without excessive surprises: 6-4 and 6-3, in 1 hour and 36 minutes. After a somewhat uncontrolled first set, a more or less logical question for a restart, Alcaraz remains steadfast and prevails against the German Yannik Hanfmann, who came with a lot of training; Victories against Dusan Lajovic and Miomir Kecmanovic in the qualifying phase suggested a tough nut to crack, but the Murcian straightens up in tricky moments and shows assertiveness in the final stretch. On Sunday he will face the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, Karen Khachanov’s enforcer (6-3, 1-6 and 6-2).
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In this first appearance on the Asian courses, Alcaraz lacks sharp definition, not bite. Up to 16 break options are granted, five of which are validated. Participant Hanfmann gets two out of three points correct. Nevertheless, the Spaniard sets out without any glamor and hopes that this will be the first episode of a successful trip on the continent. “I hope that I can come here for many more years and write my own story,” answers the 20-year-old from El Palmar. “I had time to adapt and be able to play in the conditions of China with a different time zone. It’s always complicated. Winning in two sets gives me a lot of confidence. Yannick [53º del mundo] “He played really well and had great shots, so I had to be very focused,” he said.
With this, Alcaraz recorded his first win in Asia and his 59th of the season, more than any other player. So the rush to Novak Djokovic’s reign starts on the right foot, with the Serb sitting on the throne since his triumph in New York. Nole is resting, the Spaniard is returning to the fight and weight contenders like Daniil Medvedev (6-2 and 6-1 against Tommy Paul) and Jannik Sinner (6-4, 6-7 (2) against Daniel Evans) continue to make the stage ) or Alexander Zverev (6-7(2), 6-1 and 6-4 against Diego Schwartzman, and scheduled this Saturday with Alejandro Davidovich); The news, however, is the double elimination of Tstitsipas and Auger-Aliassime. The Greek (25 years old) cannot straighten the steering wheel and continues to lose momentum, while the Canadian (23) continues in free fall and falls out of the noble zone.
Auger-Aliassime, during the game against Rune.MARK R. CRISTINO (EFE)
Strange case of the latter. As he seemed to achieve the decisive success to establish himself among the strongest, he shows the physical and emotional collapse he has suffered since his fall against Alcaraz in Indian Wells. From then on, injuries, setbacks, eight early round setbacks and a global record that has more losses (16) than wins (15) in 2023 have taken the air out. They haven’t won two games in a row since March. On this occasion, the Dane Holger Rune (doubles 6-4) capitulates to him and what lies ahead forces him to react, otherwise the relegation would be even more worrying. Last year he had a spectacular autumn, winning the titles in Florence, Antwerp and Basel (here higher than Alcaraz), before winning the Masters Cup, in which he defeated Rafael Nadal. Therefore, the collection of points he defends is very significant.
Tsitsipas, for his part, is well on his way to getting into trouble if he doesn’t provide timely relief. In this last appearance he was beaten by Nicolás Jarry (doubles 6:4), he has fallen in five of the last seven games he has played, and since the Dirt Tour he has had no greater joy than the trophy he won in Los Capes (ATP 250) won in an inconspicuous environment like this. He quickly said goodbye to New York, recently withdrew from participation in the Laver Cup due to injury and shortly before lost to Alex Molcan in the Davis Cup game against Greece. The pressure from his pursuers now requires him to perform well over the next month and a half in order not to jeopardize his entry into the Turin Masters Cup. Zverev, Rune and Taylor Fritz put him under pressure in the slipstream, so he has to increase his guard again in order not to give up even more ground.
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