Paris Masters 1000: Match points saved, crazy points… How Carlos Alcaraz came back from hell again

From our special correspondent at the Plénitude Arena,

On the court, everyone has their own technique in critical situations. Andrey Rublev freaked out, Gaël Monfils put his hands on his thighs before tying his laces, Carlos Alcaraz smiled. The smile of someone who knows that the game is never over and that he can turn a match around with racquet shots that come out of nowhere. This is again what happened Friday evening in the quarter-final of the Masters 1000 in Paris.

Led by a set and 5-3 by Taylor Fritz, the Spaniard came very close to a premature exit in a tournament which was very unsuccessful for him, with a quarter-final in 2022 as his best result. But it was at this critical moment that Carlitos decided to use his magic. First on a first match point for the American on the Spaniard's serve, erased thanks to a cross-court forehand which wrong-footed Arthur Fils's shooter the day before.

“Impressive passes and shots”

And then the big game, the very big game, to win this throw-in and stay in the match: a winning volley at the end of the race after a great defense from Fritz, a miraculous point after warheads sent by the American and a cross backhand volley which, after the rebound, flew very far from the court behind the net, and which Carlos Alcaraz put back after a dazzling run with a classy gesture, pushing the public to give him a well-deserved standing ovation.

The Plénitude Arena, which had finally been full, was not at the end of its surprises. At 5-4, Taylor Fritz had a new match point and will regret not having slammed or crossed his volley enough, which allowed Alcaraz to pierce him with a powerful passing. “I saved them with passing shots, shots which were actually quite impressive,” the Spaniard himself congratulated after the match in the mixed zone.

“It’s still a game”

But then, how can we explain this sudden change in the Spaniard, who had started the match rather well before seeing the American hit him with powerful blows, particularly from the baseline? “If I lost, I didn’t want to have the feeling that I could have done more or that I should have chosen the aggressive option,” he explained. Things happened the right way. I played good tennis when I had to. »

Alcaraz, who has just won his seventh match after saving at least one match point, also recalled this famous smile at the critical moment: “I felt nervous after a good start to the match. At 5-3, I started to smile, I started to take people's energy, to try to use it and tried to make them enjoy it too. After that, I started having fun every second, every point. I think that was the goal of this match. »