NEW YORK – Carlos Alcaraz sailed in the third round of the United States, leading by a set and a break after taking 10 of the first 14 games at the Arthur Ashe stadium on Friday, when a clumsy step while hitting a forehand caused a problem with its right knee.
The ALCARAZ with a seeded seed n ° 2, which won the first of its five Grand Chelem titles to Flushing Meadows in 2022, was broken for the first time in the tournament, then took a dead for a medical time and massaged by a leg by a coach. Solved problem: Alcaraz crossed the rest of the match, without ever abandoning another match and beat n ° 32 Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-4, 6-0.
It was the first, in short suspicion of any problem for Alcaraz, 22, this week – finally, apart from the haircut error of his brother who led to a shaved head.
He did not leave the teasing of Frances Tiafoe about that disturbing him, and Alcaraz did not seem too concerned about what happened with his knee against Darderi, a 23 -year -old Italian who made his debut as a seed during a major.
“I just felt something that did not work well on the knee, but after five, six points, he had disappeared,” said Alcaraz, describing the visit of the coach as a precaution. “I’m going to speak with my team, but I’m not worried about it.”
Apart from this Blip, his game was great in the match, which lasted 1 hour, 44 minutes.
He delivered 31 winners at only 12 uncomposed mistakes and won 70 of the 105 points that lasted four shots or less.
“It’s a shame that I met Carlos in the third round, because at the moment it is impossible to play against Jannik [Sinner] or Carlos. These are the two whose level is above everyone, “said Dardardi.” Everyone knew that my chances were not the highest. “”
Alcaraz, who faces Arthur Rinderknech on the fourth round, improved his record for a big career slam at 80-13. Only Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal were younger – for a month or two – when they obtained their 80th victories in Majors.
