After a happy debut to secure number one for at least two more weeks, Carlos Alcaraz appeared before the media to talk about his match against Nishioka. Among the questions was one related to mental stability on the track. The Murcian had no qualms about acknowledging that he has been working with a psychologist since 2019, fundamental in his growth as a tennis player.
“You have to show the rival how strong you are mentally, that you are calm even though you are really desperate. It is very important to give that image to your opponent”, he summed up. Less than 24 hours later, Alcaraz met on the center court of Paris-Bercy with the personified antithesis of that speech.
Grigor Dimitrov is not the tennis player with those attacks of madness of yesteryear. He is now 31 years old, he is ranked number 28 in the ATP ranking - he was third in 2017 - but the irregularity continues to accompany the Bulgarian. He does it without so much fuss or so many broken rackets, but he still has a hard time hiding his frustration in games in which he is outmatched like this Thursday against Alcaraz.
The tennis player from El Palmar thrashed his opponent with a very complete match (6-1 and 6-3 in 1h11m). He shone particularly brightly in the first set, laying waste to Dimitrov's morale with his game winners, impossible lobs and hat-dropping volleys.
He also brought out his freshness of legs to reach everything, a supersonic speed in the purest A-Train style (see The Boys) to go from side to side and return everything from the bottom of the track. Faced with this defense, Dimitrov was forced to force more than necessary if he wanted to score points and that led him to error on many occasions.
Federer's eternal heir - a label that weighed too much on him since his youth - came in cold and, in the blink of an eye, he already saw himself two breaks down. Reliable on serve, Alcaraz did not let his opponent enter at any time in the first set and continued to be brave throughout the rest.
The Spaniard played full of confidence, but he relaxed in the first section of the second set. The first break balls came against until the man from Haskovo was finally able to break number one's serve. Alcaraz cared little. He had broken in the first game and was still ahead. Dimitrov called at three but this was the top for him. The gifts returned and Alcaraz turned off the concession tap.
His next rival in the last Masters 1000 of the year will be Holger Rune. The irreverent Dane - last week Wawrinka asked him to stop behaving "like a baby" because of his attitude on the court - beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets (6-4, 7-5). With the Masters Cup in Turin just around the corner -Nadal will be among the qualifiers-, Alcaraz's version is increasingly recognizable.
