Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz signed a winning comeback. The tennis player beat Portugal’s Nuno Borges in just over an hour in the second round of the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona. He will find another Spaniard on his way: either Bernabé Zapata or Roberto Bautista.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (second in the world) started his European campaign on clay very well, by defeating Portugal’s Nuno Borges (79) 6-3, 6-1 in just over an hour in the second round of the ATP Barcelona 500, on Tuesday. Soon the 19-year-old Spaniard managed to make a break in a one-sided match, from the Portuguese’s second serve match, which the “white” won on a double fault.
Alcaraz overcame the Portuguese defense with the power and depth of his shots, and again took his next serve, escaping 4-1, then 5-1 in the clash. However, Borges was able to make it back to 5-3 by exploiting his only break point of the set with a backhand acceleration down the line.
Stung fast
Stong, Alcaraz took Borges’ serve again in the next game, taking the first set 6–3 in 35 minutes. The world number two accelerated in the second set as he quickly broke 3-0 before winning this second set 6-1 in a “white” match on his commitment, finishing the match in 1 hour and 3 minutes.
As in the first set, Borges had a break point in the second act that he did not know how to exploit this time. In the Round of 16, Alcaraz, paradoxically more comfortable against Borges in opposing service matches than he is in his commitments, will find another Spaniard on his way. Either Bernabé Zapata (41st in the world), who reached the semi-finals in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in February on clay in South America, or Roberto Bautista, who is still 25th in the world but seems to be dropping back at 35.
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