Miami (USA) (EFE) for the round of 16, instance in which the American Tommy Paul will be measured.
It is the fourth victory in four matches for Alcaraz over Lajovic. The Serbian was much more of a rival than the Argentine Facundo Bagnis, managing to create problems for the Spaniard in a second set that he managed to lead to the tiebreaker, although at no time did he have any real chances of winning.
From the first set the Murcian dominated, completing it with a brilliant and forceful 6-0. He commanded from the start, winning his first serve from Lajovic, and knowing how to find his mistakes for the rest of the afternoon.
The first services missed by Lajovic forced him not to risk as much in the second, something that Alcaraz knew how to take advantage of by being very aggressive, it was the usual tonic at the Hard Rock Stadium.
And so he continued to win his serve and break his rival’s, in just 23 minutes the second break came and it was 3-0. He never relaxed his level, his forehand and the speed of the court were too much for Lajovic at the start of the match.
In 31 minutes the first set was 6-0 and Alcaraz celebrated looking at Juan Carlos Ferrero in the stands. The Murcian equaled with this the statistic for the most sets won in Masters 1,000 before turning twenty with Rafa Nadal. Both add up to four at the moment.
The second sleeve was longer, as happened on Friday, but always with Alcaraz ahead on the scoreboard. Lajovic defended his serve better and stretched each point, but the vast majority of these, nine or more shots, ended up on the Spaniard’s side.
The 5-3 was reached after one of the most disputed games of the match. Lajovic was more reliable in his response to Alcaraz’s service. The number one in the world seemed at times ‘accessible’ with unforced errors.
In the tenth game of the second set, with Alcaraz serving to win the match, Lajovic managed to force four errors on the Spaniard, allowing him to tie the set at 5-5 and get back into the set, and consequently into the match.
Lajovic also won the eleventh game and turned the set around for 6-5, ensuring at least the tiebreaker. And Alcaraz’s reaction was not long in coming, he won his service to take him to the tiebreaker.
The Murcian did not want to stay longer at the Hard Rock Stadium, because a third set could be too much and the objective, as he stated on Friday, was not to spend so much time on court. He applied the story in the tiebreaker, recovering at times the best version of him and sentencing with a fought 7-5.
His third service winner of the afternoon came to make it 5-2 in the tiebreaker, and an aggressive return brought him to 6-2. Alcaraz had four match balls, and it wasn’t until the fourth, wasting his serve, when he sentenced a two-handed backhand.
Lajovic fought him to the last breath and was a very worthy opponent in the second set, celebrating at many points aware of the difficulty of facing an opponent at the level that the Murcian is at.
Tommy Paul, in eighth
Alcaraz’s next game will be in the round of 16, this coming Tuesday against Tommy Paul, one of the fittest tennis players on the circuit and who is supported by statistics, since he has won his last twelve matches against Spaniards.
Paul eliminated the Spanish Alejandro Davidovich this Sunday and won the only precedent against Alcaraz, last year in Montreal.