RIO DE JANEIRO. Carlos Alcaraz, a red fury. Especially against the Azzurri, given that on the same day at the tormented (rainy) Atp 500 in Rio De Janeiro, the 18-year-old from Murcia first eliminated the n.6 in the world and first seeded of the tournament, Matteo Berrettini, in the quarterfinals; then a particularly inspired Fabio Fognini in the semifinals. Alcaraz today will therefore meet Diego Schwartzman, the former Argentine top 10, to conquer the first ‘500’ of his career. The umpteenth stage of a career that is burning the times.
In the first match of the day, after the long postponements caused by bad weather this week, Alcaraz won 6-2 2-6 6-2, bringing the balance of head to head to 2-1 in his favor. After a start with the handbrake on, on a pitch made very slow by the rain, Matteo managed to find a better quality of play in the second set, but in the end, in addition to the opponent’s talent, it was an unhappy day at the service. (60% of the first balls on the field, just 38% of points with the second) to boycott the dreams of winning in his “second homeland” (Berrrettini’s maternal grandmother is Brazilian)
Fabio Fognini in the meantime had freed himself in two sets of Federico Coria. Back on the pitch late at night, he was unable to stem Hurricane Alcaraz: he finished 6-2 7-5 in an hour and 45 for the n.29 of the world, thus obtaining his second career ATP final after the one in Umag’s 250 last year.
“I’m the first to be amazed at having won two games in one day, it’s hard to win one”. Schwartzman, winner first of Andujar and then of Cerundolo, also thinks the same way: «We have done an incredible thing. The other day we were here at the tournament until 1 in the evening, then we went back the next morning to play two games, I don’t know how we managed it ».
Fognini can still hope for the double (at 20 the semifinal paired with Simone Bolelli against Gonzalez-Molteni). For Alcaraz, on the other hand, in case of victory the doors of the top-20 will open.