With happiness, Alcaraz builds an epic comeback against Fritz and reaches the semifinals in Paris

This time it was Carlos Alcaraz, more Carlos Alcaraz than ever. A victory thanks to happiness, fun, that joie de vivre so characteristic of you. Against Taylor Fritz, in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters 1000, he was one step away from the abyss, with two match points against him, and he came out of it laughing. Nothing is that big of a deal, much less a tennis match, and the Spaniard remembered it at the most opportune moment. He came back enjoying it or he enjoyed coming back, which doesn't matter too much.

He won this Friday 6-7(10), 7-5 and 6-3 and qualified for the semifinals of the last Masters 1000 of the year, where he will face the winner of the duel between Casper Ruud and Nuno Borges. In the final, also, a possible beautiful duel against Ben Shelton. The audience at La Défense experienced one of those nights that stay in the memory because there are few things better than watching someone having a good time doing what they do best.

In his victory there was a key moment, really key. With the first set lost and 5-3 down in the second, Alcaraz got involved in a long exchange with Fritz that ended with a magical, improbable, beautiful blow. The point of the year? Surely. The American finished off a lob from the Spaniard with his back and the Spaniard invented, on the run and from the side of the net, a kind of cross-back counterattack more typical of padel than tennis. The French fans, almost silent until then, went crazy. Alcaraz celebrated by putting his finger to his ear and then burst out laughing. For the first time all night. Something clicked in him.

The benefit for Jódar

From the first point of the match he had played tight, accumulating errors and more errors, especially with the backhand. That special blow, however, freed him. Suddenly, the smile appeared, he moved better, hit looser and even found security with the serve. His sneaker began to spring forth with an ease that had seemed impossible for nearly two hours. He chained four consecutive games to take the second set, although he still had to dodge two match points from Fritz before completing the comeback. Then, too, he responded with imagination and courage.

If in the first set, resolved in a tiebreaker of almost a quarter of an hour, Alcaraz's errors had marked the fate of the scoreboard, in the third the opposite happened. The Spaniard was right when it mattered most and Fritz began to bear the brunt of the wasted opportunities. The American, who had had victory within reach, lost precision and confidence. Alcaraz, on the other hand, was already playing with recovered joy. The party had changed owners.