Carlos Alcaraz concludes his debut at the Shanghai Masters 1000 with satisfaction and, while signing in the chamber of a member of the Villena Academy where he trains, remembers that he recently suffered a traffic accident: “Madrona, this victory is for you. The 20-year-old from Murcia won without hesitation against the Frenchman Grégoire Barrère, but the result (6-2 and 7-5, in 1h 41m) is misleading as his rival didn’t give up. “He [Barrere] He has good shots and I think I did quite well in everything I set out to do to improve. The first game of a tournament is never easy,” recalls the Spaniard, who has won every one of his tournament debuts this year. There are 15 in total and he has already played 70 games. At this point, legs and lungs count, but freshness of head is just as important or even more important.
“When I see today’s level and feelings, I see that I have options; I don’t know if I’ll win the title, but if I can achieve a good result here. I’m from Beijing [donde cedió en las semifinales]“I think I did quite well,” continues the one from El Palmar, who aims to take the number one spot from Novak Djokovic by the end of the year. There are now 2,830 points in between, although the Balkan’s real income drops to 2,285 because the 500 points he earned last year for winning in Astana will soon be deducted. “I think about Novak in every training session, I won’t deceive you,” said Alcaraz before the competition in Shanghai, where Nole – by his own decision – is not exactly recharging his strength, but there are two other big obstacles: Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner, recent double spanking.
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Since picking up more successes in February, six in total this season, the Murcian player has become the man to beat. From jump to jump, Alcaraz projected a halo of superiority, racking up victories – 62 after the last against Barrere – as his opponents’ determination to beat him grew. The veteran Djokovic (36) did it in the Cincinnati final, Medvedev (27) reduced it in the New York semifinals and the Italian Sinner (22), the player with the most goals (4), did it at the penultimate stop in Beijing surpassed him. The Tyrolean now appears in Shanghai with hunger and conviction, just like the Russian, although for one reason or another he never feels well. If it’s not the stands, it’s the balls, and if not, it’s the surface.
Sinner poses with the Beijing trophy. FLORENCE LO (Portal)
“That was the fastest tournament on the circuit and now it is perhaps the slowest next to Indian Wells, but it is what it is and we have to play like that,” protests the Moscow native, the most productive tennis player on cement this season. With the double victory over Cristian Garín 6-3, he collects 43, which translates into four trophies: Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami, to which is added the prize in Rome (country). “I would have loved to win a Grand Slam, but if we put that aside, it’s probably my best year. “It was a great season, but it’s not over yet,” warns Medvedev, the last champion in Shanghai. He won the trophy in 2019 without dropping a single set, and the four subsequent editions were canceled due to the Asian country’s anti-pandemic protocol.
“The Difficult Challenges”
Apart from the short-term revival of the Chinese title, the Russian sees a great medium-term incentive in the possibility of reaching the world summit again. With 7,490 points it’s not easy for him, but his commendable record for the year gives him hope, as in addition to Shanghai he still has to take part in Vienna, Bercy and the Turin Masters Cup. Last year he sat on the throne for 16 weeks – spread over two periods, 3 between February and March and 13 between June and September – and the result he achieved against Alcaraz in New York gave him wings. After he was confidently beaten by the Spaniard in Indian Wells and Wimbledon, a door that seemed closed and sealed until a month ago is now opening for him. Sensation shared by Sinner.
Medvedev observes a butterfly in the game against Garín. ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES (EFE)
“We are both very young and we both hate losing, especially to each other,” says the Italian, who is currently enjoying his best placement (4th) and will try to repeat his good moment after the conquest of Beijing, the ninth success of his Career, to confirm third in 2023 after Montpellier and Montreal. “I always look for the most difficult challenges,” he adds. “And I don’t think everything changes drastically when you win something. I just think there were a few things I should have done better at the US Open and we worked on that, especially the mental aspect; “I’m trying to understand how my brain works a little better,” he continued after beating Marcos Giron 7-6 (7) 6-2 this Saturday, looking forward to meeting Alcaraz in the final on 15.
As soon as the tournament started, figures like Holger Rune, Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime, the latter dazed, were no longer in the fight, the two and Medvedev predicting a nice three-fight duel in the coming days. “I want to compete against both of them, but for that I have to win my games and they too,” explains Alcaraz, aware that the fronts and the threat are multiplying. It’s not just Nole anymore. They send two more and he accepts; The top four in the world rankings will engage in close combat until the final at the end of November. What was an almost exclusively one-on-one conversation with Djokovic before the summer is now an intensified hierarchy exercise. “I think Medvedev is the most complicated at the moment,” concludes El Palmar, who will face Daniel Evans or Mikhail Kukushkin in the round of 16 on Monday.
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