By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Current world no.1 male tennis player Carlos Alcaraz just punched a ticket to the Wimbledon quarterfinals after outlasting Matteo Berrettini of Italy- 3.6, 6.3, 6.3, 6.3- last July 11, 2023, held at the Center Court in London, England.
After entering a surprising 0-1 hole in the first set, the 20-year-old tennis sensation shook off all the jitters to score a reverse sweep when he clinched the last three frames and ended the match once again in style and pure dominance.
Alcaraz quickly went back to his element and minimized his unforced baseline hit errors when he opted to go for the serve-and-volley technique to kick off the second set.
His game plan then worked to perfection as Berrettini wasn’t able to hold his line and allowed Alcaraz to punish him inside the net area.
Despite bringing his momentum when he broke Alcaraz’s strong service possessions twice in the opening set, Berrettini quickly became disoriented when the young Spanish star figured him immediately in the following sets.
Berrettini finally felt Alcaraz’s forehand power midway through the second set after giving up four-straight baseline rally exchanges.
That sequence then gave Alcaraz the confidence he needed after losing the first set and paved the way for his ground stroke rhythm to return.
There was just nothing that the Italian could do after Alcaraz went beast mode in the last two sets, bullying Berrettini with his powerful forehand hits while also icing the match with his signature down-the-line winners.
Although Alcaraz won the match, the coaching staff of the Spanish youngster pointed out more room for improvement after their ward committed six double faults in the four-set duel.
Alcaraz will next be facing world no. 6 male tennis player Holger Rune in the quarterfinals today and is expected to be a tougher cover for the Spanish ace.
It was Rune who halted the terrific campaign of former world no. 3 Grigor Dimitrov during the Round of 16 and only needed four sets to advance to the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournament.
Can Alcaraz continue his dominance and get past Rune?
