As the first set closes and the second opens, in this final in Buenos Aires, the first final that Carlos Alcaraz (19) will play in 2023, Cameron Norrie (27) understands his fate.
The British left-hander will have been a semifinalist on the Wimbledon grass, that was last summer, but now both are measured on clay and Alcaraz is in a rage.
Ballasted by an abdominal injury, the Murcian has been away from the slopes for 102 days, an eternity of four fallow months that has made him lose world leadership, and now, teenager that he is, he intends to recover the lost ground, and he you want quickly and immediately.
Alcaraz, from less to more in these last four days in Buenos Aires, has appropriated the last four games of the first set and also the first three of the first round, a 7-0 run that minimizes the British, 12. º in the world, this Sunday a caricature in the hands of the last US Open champion, an Alcaraz who likes himself and throws drop shots and serves at 220 km/h and throws parallel setbacks and for a good part of the game he does not concede a break point.
Already against the current, Norrie struggles and squeezes himself, and breaks Alcaraz's serve, who hesitates when he serves to win. However, the matter does not go from there and Alcaraz recovers in the last two games to score his first title of 2023, the first title in the first tournament he plays, not bad, 6-3 and 7-5.
