Alcaraz solidly enters the Vienna semifinals

The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz qualified this Friday for the semifinals of the Vienna tournament, scoring for the ATP and which is played on an indoor hard court, by beating the American Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals in two sets 6-5, 7-6(3) after almost two hours of play.

The Murcian player continues to refine his set-up after his long period of absence due to his wrist injury and once again overcame the challenge of a rival whose measurement is currently taken, but who came after being an indoor semi-finalist in Lyon (France).

But the statistic was once again a kind of slab for the American, who had his options in both rounds, especially in the first, but ended up giving in to the one from El Palmar, who beat him for the seventh consecutive time, the fifth in a row without giving up a set, a little help for Rafa Jódar since the American is also in the race to be in the ATP Finals. Alcaraz, second seed in Vienna, will now seek the final this Saturday in the Austrian capital against the Russian Daniil Medvedev, third seed.

The match was at a high level as almost always when these two players face each other. Paul used his best tennis to counter the Spaniard, who had moments of trouble in the first set where he had to save three break balls.

Two of them were in a long sixth game that fell on his side and that were decisive because in the next one, he pressed the American and achieved the key break despite the fact that his rival was able to raise a 0-40. Alcaraz did not let the advantage slip away and closed the first set with his serve.

Paul was able to raise the level in the second set, full of great blows by both, and in which the Murcian did not find any loophole in the American’s service. This one, on the other hand, did threaten, but did not take advantage of his two options in the eighth game.

The winner of seven ‘Grand Slams’ did not give any more concessions from that moment and had to decide the outcome of this second set a ‘sudden death’ where Alcaraz was more solid and took advantage of the American’s errors to take a good advantage and prevent the match from being prolonged.